German rubber industry concern over missing waste tires

Frankfurt, Germany – Germany’s rubber industry has raised concerns over missing end-of-life tires (ELTs), warning that significant volumes remain unaccounted for and unavailable to domestic recyclers.

Around 84,000 tonnes of waste tires had an unknown destination in 2025, according to figures released by the German Rubber Industry Association (WDK) 14 Oct.

According to WDK technical manager Stephan Rau, the waste tires, which could be in “much larger quantities,” are suspected to have been exported to outside EU to be incinerated under “appalling health and environmental conditions.”

Such exports, said WDK, would deprive German recyclers of valuable secondary raw materials and undermine efforts to establish a sustainable circular economy.

Noting that the loss rate had declined slightly year-on-year, WDK called for a “systematic tracking” of waste tire volumes and their recovery routes.

“The WDK, together with other associations and organisations, has been calling for such an approach for several years,” Rau said.

“It would be simple to implement and would significantly strengthen the circular economy,” he added.

For this, Rau said, the political will was needed to support and promote a functioning recycling system.

According to the newly released statistics, Germany generated a total of 522,000 tonnes of ELTs in 2025.

Of this, 210,000 tonnes were processed into rubber granules and rubber powder – almost three times the volume recovered thermally in the cement industry.

“This is an extremely positive development and compelling evidence of the progress being made in the circular economy for tires,” Rau said.

However, the association maintained that comprehensive tracking of waste tire volumes could enable significantly greater quantities to be directed towards material recycling.