Re-cycle with Schwalbe: bring us your old tyres and inner tubes

Until now, if they were disposed of properly, they would end up in the rubbish. In the past, there was no recycling programme for used bicycle tyres that could no longer be repaired. They were usually burned, and the ash dumped, many valuable raw materials were lost.

German tyre and tube specialist Schwalbe is now putting an end to this. Together with Pyrum Innovations AG and the Cologne University of Applied Sciences, Schwalbe has developed a recycling process that uses pyrolysis to break down old tyres into three components: pyrolysis gas, pyrolysis oil and pyrolysis coke. All three components can be reused industrially, and the process is considered to be particularly environmentally friendly as it can be operated independent of energy.

With the Schwalbe Recycling System, Schwalbe is taking an important step towards recycling tyres and inner tubes and is the first tyre manufacturer in the world to introduce such a system. The self-contained system contributes to the conservation of energy and resources and at the same time saves 80 % CO2.

This is how the Schwalbe Tire Recycling System works

  • Collection: Disused bicycle tires are collected from specialist dealers such as Sport Conrad.
  • Transport: The collected tires are transported to the recycling partner.
  • Shredding: The used tires are shredded into rubber granules, steel and fabric.
  • Pyrolysis: In a thermal process, pyrolysis coke (rCB), pyrolysis oil and process gas are obtained from the rubber granulate.
  • Recycling: rCB is reused for Schwalbe products

Tube recycling is a separate process that you can read about on the Schwalbe website.

You can protect the environment by donating your old tyres and inner tubes:

  • Simply bring your old tyres and inner tubes to one of our three branches in Penzberg, Wielenbach or Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
  • We accept inner tubes and tyres of all brands – unfortunately we cannot accept studded tyres!
  • This service is free for you – we pay the handling fee!

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