Review of Toward A Circular Economy In The Tire Industry: Integrating Life Cycle Assessments And Recycling Innovations

Abstract

The global tire industry generates ~1.5 billion end-of-life tires annually, amplifying waste, emissions, and health risks. This review synthesizes contemporary life-cycle assessment (LCA) evidence and recycling innovations—including pyrolysis, microwave devulcanization, and hybrid thermochemical routes—to map credible pathways toward circularity. We identify four persistent gaps: heterogeneous LCA methods and data silos; misaligned policy incentives; scalability and profitability limits of advanced recycling; and fragmented adoption of sustainable materials. To address these, we propose an integrated framework that couples standardized, sector-specific and dynamic LCAs with modular, upgraded pyrolysis for high-value recovery (carbon black substitutes, oils, steel), design-for-circularity (renewable elastomers, sensor-enabled tires), and enabling instruments (extended producer responsibility, differentiated subsidies, carbon crediting). The framework establishes feedback loops between tire design and end-of-life performance, supports regionally deployable solutions, and prioritizes interoperable data platforms, pilot deployments, and policy realignment. Collectively, these measures can accelerate the tire sector’s transition from linear to circular models while minimizing environmental burdens across production, use, and end-of-life stages.