A consortium comprising Pirelli, Pyrum Innovations, Synthos, and BASF has launched a European tire-to-tire circular economy initiative to convert end-of-life and scrap tires into secondary raw materials for new tire production. Coordinated by Pirelli, the cross-industry collaboration establishes a closed-loop system designed to reintroduce recycled components back into high-performance manufacturing processes. The initiative integrates tire collection, thermochemical processing, chemical manufacturing, and synthetic rubber production across an integrated European value chain certified under the ISCC PLUS scheme.

The initiative directly addresses the substantial environmental challenge posed by post-consumer tire waste and the industry’s heavy dependence on finite, fossil-derived virgin inputs. End-of-life tires represent a complex waste stream that traditional disposal and energy recovery methods fail to return to high-value manufacturing applications. Furthermore, replacing virgin carbon black and conventional synthetic rubber monomers with circular alternatives requires maintaining strict material purity, structural performance, and chemical traceability across multiple industrial processing stages.

To resolve these technical and logistical barriers, the partner companies created a synchronized transformation ecosystem. End-of-life tires collected across Germany—including from retail networks, motorsport events, and Pirelli’s Breuberg manufacturing plant—are processed by Pyrum using high-temperature pyrolysisPyrolysis is a thermochemical process that converts waste biomass into bio-char, bio-oil, and pyro-gas. It offers significant advantages in waste valorization, turning low-value materials into economically valuable resources. Its versatility allows for tailored products based on operational conditions, presenting itself as a cost-effective and efficient More. This thermal decomposition yields two key streams: recovered carbon black (rCB) and tire pyrolysis oil (TPO). The rCB undergoes quality upgrading for direct substitution of virgin carbon black in Pirelli’s European tire plants. Concurrently, BASF co-feeds the TPO alongside fossil feedstocks to manufacture ISCC PLUS-certified Ccycled chemical intermediates, specifically butadiene and styrene. Synthos subsequently utilizes these circular building blocks to synthesize certified synthetic rubber for high-performance applications.

The established ecosystem successfully demonstrates the industrial viability of full tire-to-tire circularity without sacrificing material quality or technical performance standards. By integrating rCB and TPO-derived synthetic rubber back into Pirelli’s primary manufacturing line, the project decreases reliance on virgin fossil inputs and reduces raw material waste. The deployment of ISCC PLUS certification and mass balance attribution ensures complete material traceability throughout every stage of the European supply chain.