Retreading, recycling and the sustainable future

End-of-life tyres (ELT) represent a growing waste management challenge worldwide, with over 1 billion tyres reaching the end of their useful life annually (WBCSD, 2019). In the past, landfill was the primary method of waste tyre disposal. Since this disposal method causes significant environmental and economic damage, considerable effort has been made over the past decades to divert disposal of scrap tyres in landfill. Nevertheless, despite the many attempts at reusing waste tyres in various ways, a significant fraction of the world’s scrap tyres is still landfilled or stockpiled. Therefore, finding sustainable recycling solutions is crucial for environmental protection and resource conservation.