China drafts rules to encourage tyre recycling as part of anti-pollution efforts

China will create firms to recycle and re-use rubber tyres as it attempts to tackle a mounting waste problem, the industry ministry said.

The rules, part of efforts to cut pollution and ensure resources were “comprehensively utilised”, were published by the ministry on Wednesday and opened to the public for consultation.

China will aim to expand the tyre recycling business, improve recycling technologies such as thermal cracking, and increase the use of tyre retreading.

It will also encourage the recycling of tyres into rubber powder, the guidelines said.

There were 340 million cars on China’s roads at the end of June, according to transport ministry figures, and the handling of used tyres has become a growing problem.