Recycling one million waste radial truck tyres in KwaZulu-Natal, has saved between 45,500 and 71,500 tons in CO₂ emissions since 2017 - a significant achievement for Mathe Group which is transforming a fraction of South Africa’s growing hazardous mountain of waste tyres into re-usable products.

Mathe Group CEO, Dr Mehran Zarrebini, says processing its millionth tyre brought the total amount of rubber crumb produced for re-use in key industrial and construction applications to around 38 500 tons.

Based on an infill of 100 tons of rubber crumb per full size artificial football field, this equates to 385 full size football fields or 700 full size hockey fields. Alternatively, the amount of rubber crumb produced would have provided the asphalt and seal needed to pave at least 8000 km of roads. 

When rubber hits the recycling road

This British investor has kept his eye firmly on the rubber ball despite major disruptions in South Africa’s rubber recycling industry. With many other tyre recyclers skidding to a halt, waste tyres have become both a growing environmental hazard and a lost economic opportunity. Currently, more waste tyres are generated than can be managed and processed. As a result, South Africa’s discarded tyre count far exceeds its population.

When former Minister of Environmental Affairs, Barbara Creecy slipped through a last minute Industry Tyre Waste Management Plan prior to the 2024 elections, her advisors admitted that the durability of tyres makes landfilling problematic. Buried tyres tend to re-surface, compact poorly and do not degrade easily. The high calorific value of waste tyres poses a significant fire risk, while burning tyres releases noxious pollutants including carbon monoxide, sulphur oxides, nitrogen, volatile organic compounds,  polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons , benzene, heavy metals and more.

Mathe Group currently recycles approximately 1 000 radial truck tyres per day to produce 45 tons of rubber crumb. 70% of each 55kg truck tyre becomes rubber crumb and 30% is waste steel which is exported.  

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Caption: Dr Mehran Zarrebini is pictured holding some of the steel that has been recovered from tyres to be recycled