Rubber Scrap & Tyre Recycling in India 2026: A Complete Guide for Sellers, Recyclers & EPR Compliance

India generates estimated at over 1.5 million tonnes of waste tyres annually — and this number is growing rapidly as vehicle ownership expands across the country. For decades, most of this waste was either stockpiled, illegally dumped, or burned — causing severe environmental and health consequences.

That is changing. A combination of regulatory action, improving tyre recycling technology, and growing demand for recycled tyre products is building a formal waste tyre management ecosystem in India. For businesses generating rubber scrap and waste tyres, this shift is expected to create  both compliance obligations and genuine commercial opportunities.

This guide covers the rubber scrap and tyre recycling landscape in India in 2026 — what happens to tyres when they are recycled, how your scrap is valued, the EPR rules that apply to tyre waste, and how to connect with reliable buyers.

India's Waste Tyre Problem — And the Opportunity

India is among the world's largest automobile market and adds millions of new vehicles to its fleet every year. Each vehicle produces worn-out tyres at regular intervals — passenger car tyres every 3-5 years, truck and bus tyres more frequently. The cumulative waste tyre volume is substantial.

The problems with unmanaged tyre waste are well-documented:

Waste tyre stockpiles are a major fire hazard — tyre fires are extremely difficult to extinguish and produce toxic smoke

Tyre piles create mosquito breeding grounds, contributing to dengue and malaria transmission

Burning tyres informally releases carcinogenic compounds including dioxins, furans, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Valuable materials — steel, rubber polymer, carbon black, and textile fibres — are lost when tyres are not properly processed

The opportunity is equally significant. A properly recycled tyre yields valuable products that are in demand across multiple industries. India's tyre recycling sector, though still fragmented and largely informal, is beginning to formalise — driven by Solid Waste Management Rules, emerging EPR frameworks for tyres, and growing buyer demand for recovered tyre products.

What Recycled Tyre Products Are Produced in India

When a waste tyre is recycled through a formal processing facility, it yields several distinct product streams. Gravita's recycled tyre products operations produce and supply several of these streams at industrial scale.

Crumb Rubber

Shredding and granulating waste tyres produces crumb rubber — granules of various mesh sizes (from coarse chips to fine powder). Crumb rubber is used in:

Sports surfaces — running tracks, artificial turf infill, gymnasium flooring

Playground safety surfaces and impact-absorbing flooring

Rubberised asphalt for road construction — can improve  road life and reduce  maintenance costs

Rubber moulded products including tiles, mats, and bumpers

Automotive seals and vibration dampening components

Tyre Pyrolysis Oil (TPO)

Pyrolysis — heating tyres in the absence of oxygen — converts rubber polymer into a fuel oil known as tyre pyrolysis oil (TPO) or tyre-derived fuel (TDF). TPO has a relatively high calorific value comparable to conventional industrial fuels l and is used as:

Industrial furnace fuel in cement kilns, steel plants, and brick kilns and in some cases further refined for fuel applications

Feedstock for further refining into lighter fuel fractions

Pyrolysis also yields carbon black (as char), steel wire, and syngas as co-products.

Recovered Carbon Black (rCB)

Carbon black recovered from tyre pyrolysis — when properly processed and refined — can substitute for virgin carbon black in rubber compounding and coatings applications. Recovered carbon black is gaining commercial traction as sustainability mandates drive tyre manufacturers and rubber product makers to incorporate recycled content.

Steel Wire and Textile Fibre

The steel bead wire and belt layers in tyres are separated during shredding and sold as steel scrap. Textile cord fibres recovered from the tyre structure find uses as alternative fuel or insulation material.

Types of Rubber Scrap — What Gravita Procures

Beyond end-of-life tyres, Gravita's rubber scrap procurement covers a range of rubber waste streams generated by industry. Gravita is an established rubber scrap buyer across the following categories:

Waste passenger car and two-wheeler tyres

Truck, bus, and OTR (off-the-road) tyres

Industrial rubber waste — conveyor belts, rubber hoses, gaskets, and seals from manufacturing operations

Rubber compounding waste — off-spec or trim waste from rubber product manufacturers

Retreading waste — buffings and shearings from tyre retreading operations

Pricing for rubber scrap depends on the type of rubber (natural vs synthetic), contamination level, and the end-processing pathway. Bulk quantities command better rates due to processing efficiency advantages.

EPR Rules for Waste Tyres — What You Need to Know in 2026

Waste tyre management in India is currently governed primarily by the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 and state-level pollution control requirements. A dedicated EPR framework specifically for tyres — similar to the Battery Waste Management Rules — is under policy consideration and expected to be introduced in the near term .

Key features of the expected tyre EPR framework include:

Who Will Be Obligated

Tyre manufacturers — all companies manufacturing tyres in India are expected to be required to take back k and ensure recycling of end-of-life tyres proportional to their annual production or sales

Importers of vehicles and tyres — entities importing finished vehicles or tyres will carry EPR obligations for the tyre content of their imports

Tyre retailers and dealers — point-of-sale take-back obligations may be introduced, similar to battery exchange schemes

Compliance Mechanism

The framework is expected to follow the EPR credit model already established for plastics and batteries — producers demonstrate compliance by obtaining EPR certificates from registered tyre recyclers proportional to their annual production volumes.

What This Means for Scrap Holders

For businesses accumulating waste tyres — tyre dealers, fleet operators, automotive workshops, and industrial plants — the formalisation of tyre EPR will create a structured demand pathway for waste tyre disposal. Connecting with registered recyclers before the framework is notified ensures you have established supply relationships when compliance obligations begin.

Gravita's expertise spans multiple EPR frameworks. Explore our EPR services to understand how compliance can be structured across tyre, battery, and plastic waste streams in an integrated manner.

The Tyre Recycling Process — Step by Step

Collection and Sorting

Waste tyres are collected from dealers, automotive service centres, fleet operators, and municipal collection points. Tyres are sorted by size and type — passenger car, truck/bus, and OTR — as processing parameters differ by size and construction.

Shredding

Whole tyres are fed into primary shredders that reduce them to large chips (100-300mm). Secondary shredding reduces chips further to granules (10-50mm). Granulators and crumb mills then reduce material to fine crumb rubber of specified mesh sizes for end-product applications.

Steel and Textile Separation

During granulation, magnetic separators extract steel wire and bead wire. Textile cord fibres are separated through aspiration systems. Both steel and textile streams are processed separately.

Pyrolysis (Alternative Pathway)

For tyres processed through pyrolysis, shredded material is fed into a reactor vessel operating at 300-500°C in an oxygen-free environment. The thermal decomposition produces pyrolysis oil, carbon char, steel, and syngas over a controlled processing cycle.

Product Finishing and Quality Control

Crumb rubber is screened and classified to product specification. Pyrolysis oil is filtered and quality-tested before sale. Recovered carbon black char is refined where commercial-grade rCB is targeted.

Tyre Recycling in India — Industry Landscape

India's tyre recycling industry is characterised by a large number of small-scale operators — particularly in the pyrolysis segment — alongside a smaller number of organised, technology-driven players focused on crumb rubber and recovered carbon black.

Key challenges facing the sector include:

Inconsistent tyre collection infrastructure, particularly outside major urban centres

Competition from informal operators who process tyres without environmental controls

Variable quality of pyrolysis oil and rCB from small-scale processors limiting market development

Absence of mandatory EPR framework — unlike batteries and plastics, the absence of formal tyre EPR has slowed formalisation

The introduction of a formal tyre EPR framework is expected to accelerate industry consolidation around compliant, organised operators — and Gravita's position as both a rubber scrap buyer and recycled tyre products manufacturer places it at the centre of this transition.

How to Sell Rubber Scrap and Waste Tyres

If your business generates rubber scrap or waste tyres at scale, connecting directly with Gravita's procurement team is the most efficient route to reliable off-take at competitive pricing.

Contact Gravita's rubber scrap procurement team with details of material type, volume, and location

Material assessment — for non-standard rubber waste, a sample may be requested to determine processing suitability and pricing

Pricing and logistics discussion — Gravita will advise on pricing based on current market conditions and coordinate logistics as applicable

Regular off-take arrangement — for consistent generators, structured regular supply agreements provide price predictability and assured collection

Visit Gravita's rubber scrap procurement page to initiate an enquiry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are waste tyres covered under EPR regulations in India currently?

As of 2026, a dedicated EPR framework specifically for tyres has not yet been formally notified, though it is under development. Waste tyre management is currently governed by Solid Waste Management Rules 2016. However, tyre manufacturers are encouraged to establish voluntary take-back schemes, and a formal EPR notification is anticipated in the near term.

What is tyre pyrolysis oil used for?

Tyre pyrolysis oil (TPO) is used primarily as an industrial fuel substitute in cement kilns, brick kilns, steel furnaces, and other high-temperature industrial applications. It has calorific value comparable to furnace oil or diesel. Refined TPO fractions can also serve as marine or industrial fuel blending components.

What is recovered carbon black (rCB) from tyre recycling?

Recovered carbon black is a co-product of tyre pyrolysis that can substitute for virgin carbon black in rubber compounding, coatings, and pigment applications. High-quality rCB requires further processing to remove impurities and achieve consistent particle size and surface area characteristics comparable to virgin grades.

Can Gravita collect waste tyres from my premises?

Gravita's rubber scrap procurement covers bulk generators including automotive dealers, fleet operators, industrial plants, and tyre manufacturers. Collection logistics are discussed on a case-by-case basis depending on volume and location. Contact the rubber scrap procurement team to discuss your specific requirements.

How does tyre recycling contribute to the circular economy?

Tyre recycling is a core circular economy activity — recovering rubber polymer, carbon black, and steel from end-of-life products and returning them to productive use. Gravita's approach to tyre recycling is embedded within a broader circular economy consulting framework that helps industrial clients design waste recovery strategies across multiple material streams.

Conclusion

India's rubber scrap and tyre recycling sector is on the cusp of a significant structural shift — driven by escalating waste volumes, the anticipated EPR framework for tyres, and growing market demand for recycled tyre products including crumb rubber, pyrolysis oil, and recovered carbon black.

For tyre scrap generators — whether automotive dealers, fleet operators, or industrial plants — establishing relationships with organised, compliant recyclers now creates both immediate commercial value from scrap disposal and readiness for compliance obligations when the formal tyre EPR framework is introduced.

Gravita India is an established buyer of rubber scrap and waste tyres, and a manufacturer of recycled tyre products at industrial scale. To discuss bulk rubber scrap supply or recycled tyre product procurement, connect with Gravita's team through the rubber scrap procurement page or the recycled tyre products page.

Disclaimer: Regulatory developments, market conditions and product applications referenced in this article are based on current industry understanding and may evolve. Readers are advised to refer to official government notifications and applicable regulations before making compliance or commercial decisions.