Closed-Loop Tyre Recycling through Advanced Pyrolysis and Mass Balance Polymerization

Pirelli, Pyrum Innovations AG, Synthos S.A., and BASF SE have established a European industrial ecosystem for tyre-to-tyre material recovery. The initiative converts end-of-life and scrap tyres into certified secondary raw materials to partially substitute virgin fossil inputs in new tyre manufacturing. End-of-life tyres are collected across Germany via retail outlets, motorsport operations, and industrial scrap from the Pirelli manufacturing plant in Breuberg.

Pyrum Innovations AG subjects the collected tyres to thermo-chemical decomposition via pyrolysis, operating in an oxygen-deprived, high-temperature environment. This process separates the input into recovered carbon black and tyre pyrolysis oil.

Material Processing and Cross-Company Integration
The recovered carbon black undergoes refinement to match structural specifications required for direct reintroduction into Pirelli's European compound production lines, replacing conventional virgin carbon black. Concurrently, the tyre pyrolysis oil is routed to BASF facilities, where it is co-fed with fossil feedstocks into steam crackers to synthesize chemical intermediates, specifically butadiene and styrene.

Using an ISCC PLUS mass balance accounting methodology, BASF attributes the recycled input fraction to its chemical output. These monomers are subsequently transferred to Synthos S.A. for the polymerization of solution styrene-butadiene rubber (s-SBR). Synthos supplies the certified synthetic rubber to Pirelli for incorporation into compound formulations for high-performance tyres.

Traceability Standards and Deployment
Material traceability across the multi-stage conversion chain is maintained through ISCC PLUS certification, validating chain-of-custody tracking from initial thermal processing through chemical synthesis to final tyre vulcanization. The closed-loop network addresses the structural integration challenges of secondary raw materials by matching the mechanical and thermal performance metrics of primary virgin inputs. The framework is operational across industrial production sites in Germany, Central Europe, and Pirelli manufacturing networks.

Edited by Evgeny Churilov, Induportals Media - Adapted by AI.

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