The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has implemented strict regulations to ensure the environmentally sound management of waste tyres, including a ban on the import of waste tyres for the production of pyrolysis oil. This information was provided by the Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today.
The Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) (HOWM) Rules, 2016, govern the safe storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous and other wastes in India. Under these rules, waste pneumatic and other tyres fall under Schedule III Part B and are permitted for import only by actual users for specific recycling and recovery purposes. These purposes include producing reclaim rubber, crumb rubber, crumb rubber modified bitumen, and recovered carbon black.
In July 2022, the MoEF&CC introduced the ‘Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Waste Tyre’ through an amendment to the HOWM Rules, 2016. A key provision of this notification strictly prohibits the import of waste tyres for the purpose of producing pyrolysis oil or char. The Waste Tyre EPR Portal, developed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), also ensures that imported waste tyres are not used for this specific purpose.
To further improve the environmental performance of TPO (Tyre Pyrolysis Oil) units, the CPCB revised its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in January 2025. These updated guidelines have been circulated to all State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) for immediate implementation and are also available on the CPCB’s website.