In world, millions of tires are discarded every year, so if they wouldn’t have being recycled then we would be witnessing them lying around everywhere. So, there are three primary ways where they are being consumed –

Retread – retreading is done to generally big truck & bus tires, as the new ones cost really high so the cost advantage is big enough to get them resoled.

Burning – Yes, despite all the Pollution and toxic smoke, they are burnt specially in winters to warm the poor and also used in brick klin to bake the bricks.

Pyrolysis – It’s the biggest and most efficient way of recycling. As the name suggest, it’s decomposition of the tire by high temperature. There are huge reactors, shaped like closed round drums, a fire from out side melts the tires into its components. There are four byproducts,

First there is gas which consists 40–50% highly inflammable methane which is used in heating the reactors thus saving on diesel/gas/coal/wood.

Second is the carbon black which is used for burning in kiln or produce rubbers pads, rubber belt, soles, etc..

Third is steel wires (remember steel radial) which is sold to scrap for recycling.

The last fourth is the most important – oil. Remember that rubber is the one of the byproducts of crude oil and among the last of long chain of products from refinery. This oil from pyrolysis is dirty, non filtered, black, unsuitable for vehicles but highly inflammable, it’s called LDO (low diesel oil) or FO (furnace oil). It’s used in furnaces or such type of open fire where the purity is of no-importance.