← External Forces: Climate & Resource (all topics)
Reclaim rubber / EPR
What it is
Reclaim rubber is devulcanised scrap - mainly end-of-life tyres - processed back into a usable compounding material that partially substitutes virgin rubber. It is cheaper and lowers the carbon footprint but has weaker mechanical properties
Extended Producer Responsibility rules make tyre producers responsible for collecting and recycling a defined share of what they put on the market
Impact on industries
- Cuts input cost in a business where raw material is close to half the cost base, and reduces exposure to imported virgin elastomers
- EPR obligations convert recycling from a voluntary cost into mandated demand, formalising a trade long dominated by informal processors
- Property limitations cap the substitution rate - reclaim cannot replace virgin rubber in high-performance applications, so it lifts margin only within technical limits
- Feedstock supply is fragmented and quality is variable, and pyrolysis and informal processing compete for the same end-of-life tyres