A New Destination for 1.5 Billion Scrap Tires Each Year: Practices in Advanced Tire Recycling Methods

Against the backdrop of continuously rising global vehicle ownership, the treatment of over 1.5 billion scrap tires generated annually has become a worldwide challenge. These solid wastes, known as "black pollution," can take over a hundred years to decompose under natural conditions. However, amid the wave of the circular economy and the "dual-carbon" goals, advanced recycling technologies centered on scrap tire pyrolysis to oil are transforming these troublesome wastes into valuable energy and industrial raw materials. As a global benchmark enterprise in this field, Niutech, with its core technology honored by the National Science and Technology Progress Award, has established multiple replicable industrial benchmarks worldwide.  

I. Scrap Tire Pyrolysis to Oil: The Core Technological Pathway for Green Recycling  

Scrap tire pyrolysis, commonly referred to as "scrap tire-to-oil," is essentially a chemical recycling process that decomposes tires through a pyrolysis system into small-molecule compounds, ultimately producing high-value products such as pyrolysis oil, carbon black, steel wire, and combustible gas. Each of these products has clear market applications and considerable economic benefits: pyrolysis oil can serve as industrial fuel or be further refined; carbon black is an important raw material for rubber, plastics, inks, and other industries; steel wire can be directly recycled for smelting; and non-condensable gas can be used as system fuel to achieve energy self-sufficiency.  

Compared with traditional scrap tire recycling methods, pyrolysis technology can convert nearly 100% of scrap tires into high-value-added products, truly achieving a closed-loop conversion "from tires to energy." This technological pathway is widely recognized by industry experts and scholars as the ultimate method and fallback technology for "completely eliminating tire pollution."  

II. Advanced Tire Recycling Methods: Niutech's Successful Practices  

Scrap tire pyrolysis is recognized as the ultimate treatment method for scrap tires and a primary means of advanced tire recycling. In this field, stable continuous operation is a widely acknowledged technical challenge in the pyrolysis industry. Hampered by technical bottlenecks such as "equipment coking, difficulties in sealing during feeding and discharge, and product polymerization," most systems fail to meet the requirements of industrial continuous operation, with actual production capacity generally falling below design specifications.  

Against this backdrop, Niutech has achieved a critical breakthrough through over 30 years of dedicated R&D. Its self-developed "Scrap Tire Pyrolysis System" employs eight core technologies, including coking-free operation, gas-tight sealing, and anti-polymerization, successfully resolving long-standing industry pain points. This technology achieves a pyrolysis rate exceeding 99%, meeting the goals of harmless treatment, volume reduction, and resource recovery of organic waste, and has reached internationally advanced standards.  

Niutech's technology and integrated equipment have been successfully exported to dozens of countries and regions, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Brazil, Hungary, and South Korea, and have also been deployed in multiple provinces across China.  

Niutech's self-operated project—the Shandong Scrap Tire Pyrolysis Resource Comprehensive Utilization Project—is an important practice under the dual-drive strategy of "equipment + operation." This project is a leading domestic demonstration project specializing in the collection, pyrolysis treatment, and resource recycling of scrap tires. In 2026, the project underwent expansion, adopting Niutech's new-generation large-capacity industrial continuous intelligent pyrolysis equipment, which features core advantages such as significantly increased single-unit processing capacity and efficiency, greatly reduced overall operating costs, and substantially shortened payback periods. The recovered oil has obtained ISCC International Sustainability and Carbon Certification, enabling direct access to international high-end markets; through technological innovation, the recovered carbon black is continuously being upgraded toward standardization and higher value.  

The green recycling solution for scrap tires developed by Niutech provides a replicable and scalable successful model for global scrap tire resource utilization. Guided by the "dual-carbon" goals, the scrap tire pyrolysis-to-oil industry is poised to unleash even greater environmental and economic benefits on a global scale, making an indispensable contribution to building a green, low-carbon, circular economic system.