Given the massive growth in car sales throughout the world, the question of what to do with the increasing volumes of end-of-life tyres has become ever more prominent.

Regulatory efforts have been directed at minimising the disposal of scrap tyres: the European Union, for example, recently prohibited the landfilling of whole used tyres - a move which will push an additional 750 000 tonnes of scrap tyres on to the market each year; the ban is to be extended to shredded tyres in due course. Some EU member countries already claim to have achieved a 100% recovery and recycling rate for their used tyres.

Progress in this area has been marked: some 28% of the used tyres generated by the EU's established 15 member states were recycled in 2003 compared to 6% in 1994. Over the same period, the share of used tyres going for energy recovery jumped from 11% to 30%. Most of these gains were at the expense of the landfilling option.

The development of tyre recycling systems depends on finding viable markets for the recovered products. Rubber powders and granules are used in surfacing children's playgrounds and artificial sports pitches; other applications include the manufacture of mats and tiles. Powdered secondary rubber is also showing promise as an additive in road surfacing where its elasticity and noise-reduction effect has positive benefits. Tyres also contain significant amounts of steel wiring which is suitable for use within the steelmaking sector as a raw material.

One of the success stories of recent years has been the gradual acceptance of used tyres within the cement industry. A scrap tyre has approximately the same calorific value as coal and so can constitute an attractive raw material and fuel.