Landfill

Until now, the easiest and most common way to get rid of the scrap tyres was to dump them in landfills. This, however, is not a good idea for many reasons. Contrary to organic waste, for example, rubber is not biodegradable. Add to this the fact that tyres take up a great deal of space in landfills because of the high content of air, making it very uneconomical. In addition there is a significant risk of fire and there have been in fact quite a few dangerous fires in landfills both in Europe and the US. And finally, water collects very easily in the tyres making them an excellent breeding ground for insects and vermin.

As a result, the EU adopted the Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC), which since 2003 has prohibited landfills containing whole tyres.