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Ecocycle Intel

Tyres & rubber

Crumb rubber plant

End-of-life tyres shredded, rasped and milled into chips, granules and powder, with the steel recovered.

Discuss this plantWhat the report covers

A crumb plant is the first step of the tyre chain: a fully mechanical, ambient line that turns truck and car tyres into rubber chips for pyrolysis, granules for moulded goods and sports surfaces, and fine powder for reclaim and rubberised bitumen. It is the simplest tyre plant to run and the one whose economics depend most on what you pay for tyres and what you get for steel.

Feed
Whole end-of-life truck, bus and car tyres, de-beaded; domestic supply, with imports as a priced option.
Capacity modelled
1, 2, 5 and 10 tonnes of tyres per hour; the reference plant is 5 TPH on three shifts.

Products and buyers

  • Rubber chips, 10–30 mm

    Pyrolysis plants and fuel

  • Granules, 0–2 and 2–5 mm

    Mats, tiles, sports surfaces, moulded goods

  • Powder, 20–80 mesh

    Reclaim rubber, rubberised bitumen, compounds

  • Steel wire and tyre fibre

    Steel scrap; fibre as fuel or filler

India generates about 1.6 million tonnes of end-of-life tyres a year, and tyre producers have had EPR targets since July 2022. Source: Centre for Science and Environment, The Waste-Tyre Dialogue, 2025

02Process

How the plant works.

INEnd-of-life tyres
  1. 01De-bead and cut
  2. 02Primary shredding
  3. 03Rasping
  4. 04Magnetic separation
  5. 05Granulating and screening
  6. 06Fibre separation
  7. 07Fine milling
  • OUTRubber chips, 10–30 mm
  • OUTGranules, 0–2 and 2–5 mm
  • OUTPowder, 20–80 mesh
Fig. 01 · Crumb rubber process flow · 7 stages

03Rules

What shapes the plant.

  • Register as a tyre recycler on the CPCB EPR portal to sell certificates and to supply producers who need them.
  • State pollution-board consent to establish and operate; dust collection on the mills is a consent condition.
  • Imported tyres are allowed for crumbing but carry duty and port costs that change the whole case.

04Viability

What decides whether it pays.

  1. 01The delivered price of tyres: it is around four-fifths of operating cost.
  2. 02How much of the rubber leaves as low-priced chips versus powder, and who buys the powder.
  3. 03The real recovery and price of rubber-coated steel wire.
  4. 04Power per tonne on the fine mills, and the tariff.

05The report

What the crumb rubber report covers.

A model-plant report exists for this plant type. A site-specific version replaces its assumptions with your feed, prices, quotes and location, and is written to be taken to a lender.

Request a site-specific report
  1. Executive summaryThe plant at a glance: capacity, products, project cost, returns and the decision it supports.
  2. Market and regulationFeed availability, buyers and prices, the rules that create or restrict demand.
  3. Site, capacity and productsLocation logic, plant size, product mix and specifications buyers will accept.
  4. Process and technologyThe route chosen and why, with a process flow and material balance.
  5. Machinery and utilitiesEquipment list with ratings and quantities, power, water, fuel and manpower.
  6. Environment and approvalsPollution-board category, emissions and effluent controls, licences and EPR registration.
  7. Capital and operating costBuilt bottom-up: land, civil, machinery, electricals, pollution control, pre-operative costs.
  8. Financials and sensitivityFive-year P&L, project financing, debt service, payback, and what moves the result.
  9. Risks and open questionsWhat must be confirmed with quotes, buyers and the regulator before money is committed.

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