The challenge of disposing of used tyres - a commentary by Hanna Raff

The naivety with which I entered the industry 17 years ago has unfortunately evaporated. The regulated disposal of waste in Germany? I (unfortunately) no longer believe in that today. The "scrap tyre mafia" is fortunately not as murderous as the real mafia, but unfortunately the industry is not really nice and above all decent.

Until 20 years ago, used tyres were still allowed to be dumped. Today, fortunately, material recycling is so well developed that nobody thinks about it any more - or so you would think - and yet hundreds of tonnes of tyres are simply dumped in forests, rivers and elsewhere every year. You can find a map with the known finds here at ZARE.
An absolutely unnecessary absurdity.
The business idea behind it is clear - you go to the garage, hand in a tenner, take all the old tyres with you and get rid of the ones that are no longer for sale cheaply. Tax-free and simple. The fines you could possibly get are between €20 and €50,000 - ranging from manageable to hefty - but the authorities' success rate is poor.
So is it worth a try? As a "flying dealer", you don't have such strict requirements - as a small business owner without a permit, you won't attract any attention from the authorities and if you don't want to unload the tyres in the forest, you can leave them in the rented hall and let the landlord clear them out once you've moved enough to the side and gone underground.
If you now think that this is a far-fetched thesis, you are sadly mistaken. That's the daily madness. This cannot happen to our landlord. As a registered, certified waste disposal company with the appropriate BImSch licence, we have paid a generous security deposit to the authorities and the landlord has of course also received a deposit. Stupid of us, really, as it only costs unnecessary money, but morale ... But let's talk about us first.

The history of KURZ
Since our foundation in 1955 by my grandfather, Karl Kurz, our namesake, we have been dealing with tyres in every respect. As early as the 1980s, when the topic of recycling emerged, my grandfather began to dispose of used tyres professionally and ecologically in his former tyre business. As a medium-sized company, he lived sustainability before it became a buzzword. He took responsibility for our environment and for his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And that's how I was taught. We are also a little too moralistic in some areas and forgo the big profits. But that means I can sleep peacefully at night.
The waste hierarchy was the most natural thing in the world in our Swabian family business (even before there was a name for it), because the Swabian in itself already "lets nothing go to waste".

The waste hierarchy
The waste hierarchy looks like a pyramid and shows which recycling route should be prioritised. And this is exactly what the German Closed Substance Cycle and Waste Management Act (KrWG) says: § 6 Waste hierarchy:
(1) Prevention and waste management measures shall be prioritised as follows:
1. avoidance
2. preparation for reuse
3. recycling
4. other utilisation, in particular energy recovery and backfilling
5. elimination.

These cornerstones of "waste avoidance" and preparation for reuse can already be found in the first hours of the company's foundation: My grandfather attached great importance to having worn tyres retreaded, the carcasses fitted with a new tread and thus multiplying the mileage of the tyre (still unknown at the time): Retreading saves 70 % CO₂). With hardly any other product is the Waste hierarchy can be depicted as beautifully as with tyres - continue to use the tyre - i.e. simply run the tyre again on another vehicle, e.g. after it has been removed from an accident vehicle and is still in good condition; regrooving (this is only possible for large tyres with a lot of rubber), retreading and then shredding the raw material and continuing to benefit from its long service life.
In the case of tyres for which this is no longer possible, the recyclable material can be put to good use by thermal utilisation in the cement industry (namely those with approved filter systems in Germany or Europe). In this way, everyone involved in the cycle has enough for their profession and the raw material is put to maximum use.
With around 50 employees from different nations we ensure that materials made from this valuable material are utilised optimally every day at two locations. Our teamwork and the diversity of our workforce are our strength. We look for the best way to recycle or reuse all tyres, rubber articles and the resulting waste.

Tyre sorting
In order to achieve this, we have to sort all rubber waste and every tyre by hand and check them carefully, because unfortunately not all tyres are suitable for the best recycling method - material recycling. You are surely familiar with the tyres that weigh down the tarpaulins on the silos on farms. These silo tyres build up verdigris, or moss, over time. And of course nobody wants that in their granulate. But tyres with the special feature of "swallowing" noise also have a type of foam insert that sticks to the inside of the tyre and are therefore rejected by granulation companies. Tyres with the ability to seal themselves again in the event of minor damage also present us with a particular challenge.

The problem with the seal tyres
Did you know that these "seal tyres" are not recyclable at all? And according to Power hand not as certain as they sound. Which is particularly tragic for me: Once removed from the tyre, they are even deadly for small animals. Just recently, I was shown a picture of a dead bird stuck to the tyre sealant and probably had no chance of escaping. A gruesome image of how frightened the animal was until death must have suffered.
And then the tyre is actually waste as soon as it is fitted, which can only be thermally recycled because the pelletising plants do not accept the tyres as the machines run so hot due to the sticky layer, that the whole system starts to burn. For us, this means that we have to take an even closer look and pay more attention during sorting - and the granulator has to sort again so that nothing goes wrong. Of course, the manpower costs huge sums of money - just to provide security in the event of a hypothetical breakdown, which is not so certain and would only work if the defect occurred in the running surface. Crazy, isn't it?
All so that we don't need a spare wheel or the puncture kit (if we used the puncture kit, at least only the defective tyre would be "hazardous waste"), so we fit non-recyclable tyres on our environmentally friendly e-cars, which (can) cause such damage. Exactly my sense of humour.

What happens to the tyres?
Back to us, because as the name suggests - we are also a dealer and, as a wholesaler, we market used tyres and casings to the places where they are best used. This of course has various advantages for our customers, because we buy the tyres that are still usable from the disposal and remunerate them, which significantly reduces the disposal price. Of course, this added value only works with good cooperation, and only if no "good tyres" have previously been sold to the "flying dealers" or "given away with their eyes closed". The second advantage is obvious - you can get cheap and tested used tyres from us.
In this way, we ensure that the stable safety product "tyre" lives on and is only available for recycling in the circular economy when all other possible uses have been exhausted.
So every tyre should first be regrooved (at least truck tyres) and retreaded until it reaches the material recyclers. Of course, this is not possible with every "cheap tyre" from the other side of the world. After all, longevity requires quality as a basis. And as long as we "Fast Fashion" also on our cars, the Old tyre mountain certainly no smaller.

The recycling of used tyres
Even after the extended service life, we demand that our used tyres (ELT) do not go the "easy and cheap" way without consideration. We stand and fight for tyres produced in Germany and Europe to be recycled and reused in these (more expensive) economic areas.
We will not go along with the questionable routes that have been increasingly used since the beginning of the 2020s, in which tyres are "disposed of" without clarity in terms of safety, without monitoring the Supply Chain Duty of Care Act, without the certainty that the recipient will respect human rights and also without the immission protection that we regulate!
No matter how economically attractive it may be, the waste of CO₂ en route with overseas freighters alone makes it morally impossible for us. We run our company in the spirit of our founder and our company and take on the responsibility that my grandfather has already taken on. Of course, it is possible that all the waste managers of the disposal companies that deliver to Turkey, India or Pakistan, for example, have checked the recycling plants there. Allegedly, some of the tyres go further. I have not personally experienced this, but I think it is quite possible. The fact is, it is so much cheaper to ship shredded or baled tyres thousands of kilometres by truck and freighter than to sort the tyres and recycle them in the region. In my opinion, that simply cannot be true!

We set us in favour of thisthat these morally questionable "disposal routes" are closed in the future and that the local, innovative and medium-sized recycling companies have a future. I am personally committed to this in various Associations and organisations and inform all interested parties at a wide variety of events.

ZARE industry initiative
My grandfather sent me to the waste tyre disposal working group at the BRV at an early age. And I have to say - not much has changed since 2008.
Everyone complains, but nobody wants to create facts and change anything. Everyone just wants a better image. Even at the time when Peter Hülzer was still managing director of the BRV an attempt was made to set up a "ZARE" working group. This probably failed because there wasn't enough suffering and because it would have cost money. As this was before my time, we simply tried our luck again. We invited the industry to our 60th anniversary. Many industry players were very interested in working together to make the industry cleaner. And so today's ZARE actually be brought to life. This increased my hope that we could really make a difference. The image improved, some forces - but by no means all of them - came together. I am glad that we have found some partners there who are really fun to work with, Fighting together for a good cause. Others are involved, but are not contributing to a turning point. And still others have no interest at all. I personally can't understand that - perhaps it's another women's issue, but I really want us to Doing something good with old tyres. I want to take the right paths and not just the ones with the highest yield.
We continued to fight with Christina Guth and AZUR from a sponsorship project, to which we were fortunate enough to be able to add the WDK were able to win. Today, over 70 partners are involved in finding a solution to the question of what will become of the old tyres in the future - and the number is growing all the time. Innovative ideas and a strong community, with which we are working together at the Federal President in Berlin. I'm a bit proud of that. The changing perception and broader awareness of used tyres is becoming apparent and gives hope that there will still be many starting points for improvement in the future.

Our goal for the future
With the BVSE (Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung), ZARE (Zertifizierte Altreifenentsorger), AZUR (Allianz Zukunft Reifen), the BRV (Bundesverband Reifenhandel und Vulkaniseur-Handwerk) and the WDK (Wirtschaftsverband der deutschen Kautschukindustrie), we have been in close contact for some time with the Federal Ministry for the Environment and Consumer Protectionto create a legal regulation for the handling of used tyres - perhaps there is still a little naivety left, or simply optimism. The wishful thinking that used tyres will be regulated remains:
Every garage, car dealership, building yard, haulage company, screwdriver and anyone else who produces used tyres should be obliged to do so and must prove that the removed tyres are sent to a specialist waste disposal company with sorting expertise.
At the same time, the specialist disposal company undertakes to sort and pass on the usable tyres for further use; the casings are sent to the retreading company and what remains is sent to the material recycler or the unclean material is sent to the cement works.
All without tax evasion, officially with an invoice and without fields, forests and meadows.
I hope that this commitment demonstrates my determination to play an active role in shaping the future of the circular economy.

Retreaded tyres
The next worry is already waiting in the wings - who will buy retreaded tyres? And who still produces retreaded tyres? Who has survived the cheap imports to date? If "we" as a society buy new tyres more cheaply than the retreading company can buy the materials for retreading, then it will probably not work. This point is also economically understandable. A disaster from an ecological point of view. The supreme discipline of retreading would 70 % Save raw materials and thus stop promoting the monocultures of rubber plantations.

A large number of unnecessary transports could be avoided: Carbon blacks, silicates, rubber ... to countries that still produce new tyres, and then transporting the finished products back to us. Or we could do it better - retreading or even Urban Mining in its purest form - we use what we already have on site.
The waste mountain would be reduced by retreading, because the tyre lives longer thanks to retreading.
Fun fact on the side - Aircraft tyres are retreaded 12 times - There is no longer any question as to how safe retreading is or whether the technology is mature enough. This heavyweight example makes one thing clear: retreaded tyres can cope with heavy loads, high acceleration and heavy braking without any problems. A matter of course for all retreaders, because the requirements for retreaded tyres are the same as for new tyres!
And the tyre defects that repeatedly lead to traffic jams on the motorway - these are caused to the same extent by new tyres. That should summarise all the prejudices, or can you think of any more?
Why don't we start with the public sector? Equipping all public buses and lorries with retreaded tyres would be a big step in the right direction. The advantages are obvious.

Rubber-modified asphalt
Almost 10 years ago, we also opted for rubber powder as a material. With the idea of "from the road to the road", we developed an additive rubber powder that can be easily added in a dry process during asphalt production. We were able to eliminate the prejudices of "sticking" and "stinking" and at the same time improve the performance of the road:

• longer shelf life (especially with temperature fluctuations),
• fewer ruts,
• less aquaplaning,
• lower temperatures required during installation (saves CO₂ again),
• Stable in stock (no just-in-time logistics necessary), ...

KURZum, less congestion, same costs and sensible use of tyres.
The name was inspired by Germany's most congested motorway and my grandfather's wish to build it with his rubber asphalt, the A8. With the eight-way connection, the name is also chemically correct: AOKTO. This is still a long way from the authorities and the tendering process, but then a very resilient road built with rubber asphalt.

New products from old tyres
Of course, there is also a wide range of other products that material recycling produces. Here we are involved with NEW LIFE to ensure that these products receive more public attention. What is the first product that comes to mind? Probably the Artificial turf pitcheswhich were the talk of the town because of microplastics. Replaced by primary, specially produced rubber granules, the artificial turf pitch achieves the same technical sporting properties, but the environment need not rejoice - because we are replacing a recycled product with virgin material. Nevertheless, the majority of ELT products can be found on sports pitches in particular. Be it the Substructure under the artificial turfwhich must also be elastic, the Tartan trackson which the world records are run, or also on exercise machines or on Playgroundswhen it comes to slip resistance or Fall protection goes.

There are also wonderful solutions for hurdles that need to be overcome - Ramps made from ELT granulate would make many inaccessible areas barrier-free without great effort and make Germany look a little more positive when it comes to integration and dealing with people with disabilities.

Others show us how
In France - especially as a mother - I am more than enthusiastic about the schoolyards and playgrounds, all the floors are made of tartan - great for joints (especially when growing) and fewer open wounds make life easier - even for teachers. This form of Fall protection floors would also be worthwhile for our Retirement homes The senior citizens, who are usually in enough pain anyway, would fall more gently and their joints would also enjoy the light cushioning of the surface.

Railway sleepers, which are intended to make the background noise a little more pleasant, are less well known, Structural protection mats for green roofs and PV systems, Support palisades and Boundary posts as collision protection or Resilient floor coverings in fitness studios. Lamps, vases or bed surrounds, paving stones - for horses, cows or pigs, but also for protection or comfort when walking with golf shoes, football boots, skis or ice skates. So much is possible!

Why does it fail?
The concerns that keep granulators from investing and slow down or even discourage innovation are sad. My understanding of migration and content measurements is perhaps too rudimentary, at least for me as a chemistry novice, but we have a material that scores points for its longevity and from which no PAHs come out - the question of why one has to assume strictly that the content is evil remains unclear to me - even if I am aware of the background or origin of the dilemma. Maybe I just don't want to realise it.

Where do the tyres at KURZ come from?
Now the question remains as to how we get the tyres - the tyre industry with scrap tyres is slowly dying out in Germany, but regardless of the drive - we still have haulage companies, car dealerships and garages. Depending on the size of the business and the environmental conditions, we provide containers that the customer can then load directly whenever a used tyre accumulates, or we pick up the tyres with sprinters or small trucks - then, of course, the loading takes place when we are on site.
It is important to us that the customer gets their tyres disposed of promptly and reliably. But the employee is just as important to us - we take our duty of care seriously, which is why the driver does not have to load the tyres himself. He supports the customer and helps out, but loading an entire lorry on his own would be an imposition, because our guys do it several times a day! I believe that this is the only point that we are "criticised" for, because customer service must not take precedence over the well-being of our employees.

Customer service at KURZ
For the best possible customer benefit, the certified disposal companies do more than just meticulously document each tyre; we go even further and score points with a high degree of flexibility, which allows us to cover a large number of customer groups. Our fleet of vehicles ensures the best service for our customers - whether large quantities or collection in small, winding alleyways - we give you peace of mind and make on-site collection possible even in places where others can't go. We move to make waste disposal possible for all customer groups.
Our customers can be confident that their Dispose of old tyres responsibly become. We not only offer recycling, but also reuse options that extend the life cycle of tyres and protect the environment. We focus on maximising the use of resources and avoiding waste. Our used tyres find the Best possible utilisation - whether through recycling or as a raw material. We always pay attention to safe and ethical disposal methods.
As you can see: We are passionate about the circular economy for tyres and the responsible and certified disposal of our beloved round rubber.

And this is also my plea to you: take a look at which route your tyres take when you hand them in. Only when customers' awareness reaches the workshop do we have a chance that all workshops will also decide in favour of this only correct route. It's like everywhere else - quality has its price and so a certified specialist disposal company with employees who specialise in tyres naturally charges more than a flying dealer or a general disposal company where the entire tyres are disposed of as a lump sum (I mentioned that this is only possible thermally) - and with them also the important raw materials for recycling products and above all for retreaded tyres - the most sustainable way to extend the life of the tyre.

Yours, Hanna Raff