Transforming tire materials – from fossil dependency to renewable carbon leadership

A system that is not fit for the future

Today’s tire material system faces fundamental structural limitations. It relies heavily on virgin fossil-based inputs, struggles with complex material compositions that limit high-quality recycling, and remains dependent on imported feedstocks within increasingly constrained supply chains.

While circularity is essential, it comes with clear limits:

• Recycled feedstock availability is inherently limited
• Material quality often degrades in recovery processes
• Fossil carbon cannot be fully replaced at scale through recycling alone

Circularity alone therefore cannot deliver the required transformation.

A market imbalance holding back solutions

Renewable carbon-based materials are increasingly available and technically compatible with existing industrial processes. However, market conditions continue to favour fossil-based materials.

This imbalance is driven by:

• Established infrastructure and mature supply chains
• Cost structures that do not reflect environmental impacts
• A lack of strong demand signals for renewable alternatives

As a result, innovation exists- but it does not scale.

ESPR as a driver of material transformation

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) provides a unique opportunity to address this gap. By introducing binding product requirements, it can create lead markets for sustainable materials, unlock investment in renewable carbon solutions, and enable industrial-scale deployment across value chains.

A meaningful target: ensuring real change

Tires already contain approximately 20–25% bio-based carbon, primarily from natural rubber. Targets that include this existing baseline will not drive additional fossil substitution or incentivize innovation.

Targets must therefore ensure additionality.

This would:

• Drive substitution in key fossil-based materials such as fillers and synthetic polymers
• Create demand for advanced renewable materials
• Enable investment in European value chains

In practice, this would increase total renewable and circular carbon content to 50% or more by 2030.

Enabling a coherent policy framework

To be effective, renewable carbon targets must be embedded in a broader, coherent policy framework. This includes circularity measures, transparency tools, and robust lifecycle methodologies recognizing the benefits of biogenic carbon.

In particular:

• Circularity measures such as recycled content and design for recycling
• Targeted action on substances affecting circularity and lifecycle performance
• Transparency through Digital Product Passports, including material composition and carbon content
• Robust methodologies (PEF/LCA) recognizing biogenic carbon benefits

Only a system approach can deliver meaningful impact.

From decarbonization to industrial opportunity

The transition to renewable carbon is not only an environmental necessity- it is also a strategic industrial opportunity. By enabling value chains based on domestic feedstocks and advanced biotechnologies, Europe can reduce dependence on imported fossil resources and strengthen its chemicals and materials industries.

It can also:

• Promote investment in biorefineries and industrial scale-up
• Generate growth, jobs, and long-term competitiveness

From fossil dependency to renewable leadership

Circularity alone is not enough. Europe must complement it with renewable carbon to transform the material basis of tires.

Only a combined approach, bringing together renewable carbon, circularity, and safe material design- can deliver the environmental, industrial, and strategic objectives of ESPR.