2024 Volume 97 Issue 8 Pages 255-262
In Japan, the tyre industry has developed rapidly since 1960 with the advent of full-scale motorization, and since the mid-1990s, approximately 90 million ELTs have been generated annually. Tyres are made from more than 100 different raw materials to optimize performance and are vulcanized, making them difficult to recycle. Because of these characteristics, ELTs have not been properly disposed of in the past, and illegal dumping of ELTs has become a problem. However, now almost all ELTs are effectively utilized.
We will describe the history of ELT treatment, an overview of the current effective utilization of ELTs, as well as initiatives to reduce raw material consumption and ELT generation, and future challenges.
