Solving Africa’s OTR Tyre Crisis: Turnkey Pyrolysis & Industrial Waste Diversion

Open-cast and underground mines run on some of the largest tyres ever manufactured. When an off-the-road (OTR) haul truck tyre wears out, a single casing can weigh several tonnes, and a busy fleet retires them continuously. For operations in South Africa and the DRC, that steady stream has become one of the least visible but most stubborn waste liabilities on site.

The OTR Tyre Challenge on African Mine Sites

Unlike passenger or truck tyres, OTR casings are too large, too heavy and too heavily reinforced for most conventional recycling routes. Common outcomes are stockpiling on site, burial or open burning, and each one carries cost and risk: land taken up by stockpiles, fire exposure, and growing scrutiny from regulators, lenders and investors who now ask mining companies to account for their waste streams.

Distance compounds the problem. Many sites, particularly in the DRC, are far from the nearest processing facility, which makes haulage-based disposal expensive and often impractical. Dealing with the material close to where it is generated usually changes the economics.

How Closed-Loop Continuous Pyrolysis Works

Pyrolysis heats prepared tyre material in a sealed, oxygen-free reactor, breaking it down into oil, solid carbon, steel and gas instead of burning it. In a continuous system, feedstock enters and products leave without stopping the process, which suits steady, high-volume waste streams better than batch reactors that must be cooled and reloaded between runs.

The loop is "closed" because the gas produced in the reactor is captured and fed back to heat it. That reduces the plant's dependence on outside fuel and keeps emissions inside a controlled, monitored system.

Four Circular Outputs

• Pyrolysis oil: a liquid product that can be refined or sold as an industrial fuel feedstock, subject to quality testing and buyer specifications.
• Recovered carbon black (rCB): a solid that, once processed, can return to rubber and plastics manufacturing in place of virgin carbon black.
• Scrap steel: the bead and belt wire separated from the tyre, which goes to scrap or steel recyclers.
• Syngas: the non-condensable gas that is recirculated to heat the reactor.

Output quality and yields depend on feedstock and process design, so each output should be tested early and tied to a realistic offtake route before it is counted in a business case.

The Commercial and ESG Case

The value shows up in three places. First, landfill and stockpile diversion: tonnes of tyre waste that no longer sit on site become a measurable, reportable ESG improvement. Second, recovered commodities: oil, rCB and steel create revenue lines that can offset part of the cost of the plant. Third, carbon finance: a well-documented diversion project may qualify for carbon credits, which we cover in our guide to Verra VCU registration.

None of this is automatic. The case depends on feedstock volumes, offtake pricing and permitting, and it should be modelled over the full life of the asset rather than on a best-case first year.

What to Get Right Before You Commit

• Feedstock security: confirm tyre volumes, collection logistics and any third-party supply before sizing a plant.
• Regulatory approvals: thermal waste treatment generally needs environmental authorisation and waste licensing, and requirements differ between South Africa and the DRC.
• Offtake agreements: secure written interest or contracts for oil, rCB and steel, with agreed specifications.
• Technology due diligence: ask for operating references, emissions data and independent performance verification, not only design capacity.
• Governance: assign clear ownership for monitoring, reporting and, where relevant, carbon credit documentation from day one.