How to Start a Tyre Recycling Business in India

Start a tyre recycling business in India by choosing your route before anything else: crumb rubber (shredding tyres into rubber granules and steel) or pyrolysis (heating tyres without air to get oil, carbon black and steel). Crumb rubber is easier to get approved; pyrolysis looks better on paper but is under closer watch from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Plants in NPCS project reports need about ₹1.9 crore (5 tonnes a day of rubber powder) to ₹3.7 crore (a carbon black plant using pyrolysis). You need your state pollution board's consent before building, and a registration on CPCB's tyre portal before you sell certified output, because tyre makers must buy recycling certificates from registered recyclers. Income comes from product sales plus those certificates.

Crumb rubber or pyrolysis: which route should you start with?

Start with crumb rubber unless you already have a buyer for pyrolysis oil and the money for a plant built to CPCB's automated design. Collecting and baling tyres for processors needs little capital but earns no certificates.

Pyrolysis oil and char may be used only as fuel, and importing waste tyres to make them is banned under Schedule IX of the 2022 hazardous waste rules amendment. For other scrap businesses, see recycling business ideas, aluminium recycling and plastic waste recycling.

How much does a tyre recycling plant cost in India?

Total capital investment runs from about ₹1.9 crore for a 5-tonne-a-day crumb rubber plant to about ₹3.7 crore for a pyrolysis plant, according to NPCS project reports.

For crumb, NPCS notes that cryogenic grinding (chilling the rubber before milling) costs more than ambient grinding but gives finer crumb. For pyrolysis, the automation and pollution control CPCB expects add the most, and the environment ministry's tyre standard operating procedure (SOP) of 24 November 2015 indicates a plot of at least 3,000 square metres even for a small pyrolysis plant. These are report figures, not supplier quotes. A bank will want a report built for your site.

Can you make money from old tyres? What a plant earns

A plant earns from what it sells and from certificates sold to tyre makers. For pyrolysis, Mongabay India reports these yields:

Weightage is the multiplier CPCB applies to each tonne you sell, per CPCB's guidance on certificates. Producers pay for certificates within a band of 30% to 100% of the environmental compensation CPCB fixes for missed targets (2024 amendment). Demand has been uneven. Mongabay India reported in February 2024 that producers had bought about 5,000 certificates, under 1% of their obligation, and the portal now lists show-cause notices to producers for unmet 2022-23 targets. Build your plan on product sales and treat certificates as extra.

Tyre Trends reported on 30 June 2026 that weaker exports and oversupplied waste tyres squeezed recyclers, while certified material held up better. Break-even is the share of capacity the plant must use to cover its costs.

How are waste tyres turned into crumb rubber and pyrolysis oil?

Crumb rubber route:

1. Sort tyres and cut off beads and sidewalls.
2. Shred them into chips in a primary shredder.
3. Granulate the chips; magnets pull out steel and air separation removes fibre.
4. Screen the crumb into mesh sizes and bag it by grade.

Pyrolysis route, per the environment ministry's SOP of 24 November 2015:

1. Remove steel first, then feed chips into the reactor mechanically.
2. Heat with liquid fuel or gas; once pyro-gas forms it fuels the reactor, and excess goes to a flare at least 30 metres high.
3. Condense vapours into oil, held in closed vessels and moved by pump, never by hand.
4. Cool the reactor, purge it with nitrogen and remove carbon mechanically, only below 500 °C.

Which machines does a tyre recycling plant need?

Crumb plants need cutting and separation machines. Pyrolysis plants add a sealed reactor and the controls around it.

Ask every supplier for a written power rating per machine, because the CPCB portal asks you to enter each one.

Which approvals come first, and what does CPCB's tyre portal ask for?

Pollution board consent comes before construction, and portal registration comes last, as CPCB's recycler instruction sheet sets out.

CPCB issues a registration number within 15 days of a complete form, valid for two years. As of October 2026 the portal notes that some state boards cannot temporarily verify consent for new recycler registrations.

What can go wrong, and where will the tyres come from?

• Pyrolysis rules: The PTI news agency reported on 6 May 2025 that CPCB told states only automated batch units may run, capped at 60 tonnes a day per site, with larger new units running continuously.
• Tyre supply: Supply is ample in 2026, but importing waste tyres for pyrolysis is banned. Sign supply terms before ordering machines.
• Fire and safety: The SOP requires sprinklers, hydrants, gas leak sensors and no manual oil handling.

What should you do before ordering machinery?

1. Get written interest from buyers for your main product and from tyre suppliers.
2. Ask your state pollution board for its consent checklist and siting rules.
3. Collect machine quotes with power ratings.
4. Take the numbers to a bank, and check scheme options on the MSME schemes page.

NPCS has prepared project reports since 1994. A tyre recycling report covers the process, machinery with suppliers, raw materials, manpower, project cost, working capital, profitability, break-even and cash flow, in the format banks ask for. It does not replace your state board's advice or guarantee approval.

Frequently asked questions

Can I import used tyres for my plant?

Not for pyrolysis. The rules ban importing waste tyres to make pyrolysis oil or char. An importer of waste tyres for other recycling registers as both producer and recycler, and credits from imported tyres cannot be transferred to other producers.

Who is the biggest tyre recycling company in India?

There is no official ranking. The CPCB portal publishes a national dashboard, and the recyclers' association TRRAI puts the number of registered recyclers at about 800. Size changes with capacity and licences, so judge a competitor by its consents, registered capacity and buyers rather than by a list.

Can I run a recycling unit without registering on the CPCB portal?

No. The rules say no producer, recycler or retreader may do business without registration, and registered entities may not deal with unregistered ones. Registration needs your state consents and authorisation first, so tyre makers cannot buy certificates from a unit that lacks them.

Does steel wire earn certificates?

No. CPCB's list of end products covers crumb rubber, reclaimed rubber, crumb rubber modified bitumen, recovered carbon black, and pyrolysis oil and char. Steel is not on it, so wire recovered from tyres is extra income from scrap sales and adds nothing to your certificate count.