Tyre pyrolysis oil is aromatic, high in sulphur and not a drop-in cracker feed, and confusing it with plastic-derived oil is the fastest way to lose credibility with a buyer. We broker TPO from end-of-life tyre processors into carbon black production, industrial and marine fuel blending, and refinery upgrading. It is a real market with real buyers; it is simply a different one from the circular-polymer chain that plastic pyrolysis oil sells into.
Why TPO is its own market
End-of-life tyres are rubber, carbon black, steel and textile, with sulphur from vulcanisation and zinc from the vulcanisation activator. Pyrolysis carries all of that into the products. The oil comes out strongly aromatic, with sulphur typically in the region of 0.5 to 1.2 %, a characteristic limonene fraction, and zinc and other metals that a polyolefin-derived oil simply does not have.
That chemistry closes the steam cracker door and opens others. Aromaticity that is a problem for a cracker is an asset for carbon black feedstock and for fuel blending, where aromatic content contributes to the calorific and handling properties a blender wants.
It also means a tyre pyrolysis plant sells three products, not one, oil, recovered carbon black (rCB) and steel, and the economics of the plant usually depend on placing all three. We are happy to look at the oil in that context rather than in isolation.
Where TPO actually goes
- Carbon black production: as a feedstock component, where the aromatic content is the point. Generally the highest-value outlet for good, consistent material.
- Industrial and boiler fuel: cement kilns, lime kilns and industrial burners, blended or neat depending on the permit and the burner.
- Marine fuel blending: as a blend component into residual grades. Sulphur is the binding constraint: the global limit is 0.50 % m/m outside emission control areas and 0.10 % inside them, so TPO at 0.5 to 1.2 % is a blend component into a compliant pool, never a finished bunker fuel on its own. Any offer describing untreated TPO as a compliant marine fuel should be treated with real caution.
- Refinery upgrading: hydrotreating or co-processing into a refinery cut, where sulphur and metals are managed by the refinery's own units.
- Distillation into cuts: some operators fractionate on site and sell a light aromatic cut separately, which reaches buyers the whole oil cannot.
RED III splits TPO in two, and that changes the economics
This is the development most people in tyre pyrolysis have not fully priced in, and it is worth reading twice.
A tyre is part natural rubber and part synthetic. The natural rubber carries biogenic carbon; the synthetic rubber carries fossil carbon. Both end up in the oil, and until recently only one of them counted for anything. Under RED III both do, through two different doors.
- The biogenic fraction is treated as an advanced biofuel, aligned with Annex IX Part A feedstocks, which is the category that carries dedicated quotas and, where a member state still applies them, multipliers. Published estimates put the biogenic share of tyre-derived oil in the region of 40 to 50 %, concentrated up from the natural rubber content of the tyre.
- The fossil fraction is no longer worthless in energy accounting. It can contribute to national climate targets through the recycled carbon fuel route, provided it meets the threshold. See recycled carbon fuels.
- The greenhouse gas thresholds differ per door: broadly 70 % saving for recycled carbon fuels and 65 % for advanced biofuels from newer installations. Verify the figure that applies to your installation and delivery years before you build a case on it.
Which means you now have to measure the biogenic share
If the two fractions are accounted for separately, somebody has to say where the line is. That is done with radiocarbon analysis, carbon-14 testing, which distinguishes biogenic carbon from fossil carbon because fossil carbon has no measurable C14 left.
Practically, this is a new line item for a tyre pyrolysis plant and a new question on every offer. A plant that can show a credible, repeatable biogenic percentage from a recognised laboratory is selling something different from a plant that cannot, and the difference is not cosmetic: it decides which of the two doors the cargo can walk through, and therefore what it is worth.
If you are producing TPO and have not had the biogenic content measured, that is the single most useful thing you can do before your next conversation with a buyer. Ask us and we will tell you who tests it.
Fractions, and what our buyers are asking for
Not every tyre pyrolysis plant distils, and there is a real market on both sides of that choice. As with plastic-derived oil, cut points differ by operator, so the temperatures below are the usual convention rather than a specification.
- Non-distilled TPO, also called whole or raw TPO. The full range oil straight from the reactor, with no fractionation. Simplest to produce, and there is genuine demand for it in industrial fuel and in upgrading. We have active interest in non-distilled TPO.
- Heavy fraction TPO, above roughly 350 C. Strongly aromatic, higher sulphur, high in the polycyclic content that carbon black producers are looking for. This is the cut our buyers ask for most.
- Middle fraction, gasoil and diesel range, into fuel blending and refinery upgrading.
- Light fraction, naphtha range, carrying the characteristic limonene content that comes from the rubber.
Specification
| Sulphur | Typically 0.5 to 1.2 %. The parameter that determines which fuel outlets are legally and technically available. |
|---|---|
| Density and calorific value | Blending arithmetic and burner suitability. |
| Flash point | Storage classification, transport and terminal acceptance. |
| Distillation profile (IBP/FBP) | Which cut the oil competes with and whether fractionation is worthwhile. |
| Water (Karl Fischer) | Phase separation, freight cost, burner stability. |
| Ash and filterable solids | Char carry-over from the reactor. |
| Metals, zinc especially | Zinc from the vulcanisation activator is characteristic of TPO; also Fe, Na, Ca, Pb. |
| Aromatic content | The value driver for carbon black feedstock. |
| Limonene fraction | Characteristic of tyre-derived oil; relevant where a specialty buyer is separating it. |
| Viscosity | Pumping, heated storage and blend behaviour. |
| TAN | Corrosivity in storage and transfer. |
| Chlorine | Usually low relative to plastic-derived oil, but still tested where a refinery outlet is in play. |
Waste status and how we work it
End-of-life tyres are a regulated waste stream and the resulting oil carries the same waste-or-product question as any other pyrolysis oil, decided nationally. One practical difference is worth knowing: the plastic-waste export restrictions in the EU Waste Shipment Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 target plastic waste, and rubber is not plastic, so tyre-derived streams do not sit under that particular prohibition. The general waste shipment regime still applies. See pyrolysis oil for the wider framework and CN classification.
We act for tyre pyrolysis operators placing oil, and where useful, rCB alongside it, and for carbon black producers, blenders and refiners looking for consistent aromatic feed. As with every pyrolysis product, consistency across batches is worth more than a single good analysis, and we will say so before taking a plant to market.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between tyre pyrolysis oil and plastic pyrolysis oil?
They are different products with different buyers and prices. TPO is strongly aromatic with sulphur typically around 0.5 to 1.2 % and characteristic zinc content, and goes to carbon black production, fuel blending or refinery upgrading. Plastic pyrolysis oil from polyolefins is naphtha-like and paraffinic, and its premium outlet is a steam cracker under ISCC PLUS mass balance. Quoting one against the other signals inexperience immediately.
Which tyre pyrolysis oil fractions are you looking for?
Heavy fraction TPO and non-distilled TPO. The heavy cut, above roughly 350 C, is strongly aromatic with the polycyclic content carbon black producers want, and it is what our buyers ask for most. Non-distilled or whole TPO straight from the reactor also has genuine demand in industrial fuel and upgrading, so a plant without a distillation column is not shut out.
What is non-distilled TPO?
The full range oil as it leaves the reactor, with no fractionation. Also called whole or raw TPO. It is the simplest product for a plant to make and there is a real market for it, which matters because a lot of tyre pyrolysis operators do not have a distillation column and assume that rules them out. It does not.
Why do carbon black producers want the heavy fraction?
Because the aromatic and polycyclic content that makes the heavy cut unsuitable for a steam cracker is exactly what carbon black feedstock needs. It is the clearest example in this market of a property being a defect in one outlet and the whole point in another.
Can tyre pyrolysis oil be used as marine fuel?
Only as a blend component. The global marine sulphur limit is 0.50 % m/m outside emission control areas and 0.10 % inside them, and TPO typically runs 0.5 to 1.2 % sulphur, so untreated TPO cannot be a compliant finished bunker fuel on its own. It can be blended into a compliant pool. Treat any offer presenting neat TPO as a compliant marine fuel with real caution.
Why does tyre pyrolysis oil contain zinc?
Zinc oxide is used as a vulcanisation activator in tyre manufacture, so zinc is present in the rubber and carries into the pyrolysis products. It is characteristic of tyre-derived oil and is one of the markers that distinguishes TPO from polyolefin-derived oil in a laboratory.
Is TPO suitable for steam crackers?
Not as a drop-in feed. Its aromaticity, sulphur and metals are wrong for that application, which is exactly why the carbon black and fuel routes exist. Upgrading into a refinery stream is possible where the refinery's own hydrotreating and metals management can handle it, but that is a refinery decision, not a trading assumption.
Do you also place recovered carbon black?
Yes, and it usually makes sense to look at it together with the oil. A tyre pyrolysis plant's economics generally depend on placing oil, recovered carbon black and steel, and treating the oil in isolation gives a misleading picture of what the plant needs commercially.
Does the EU plastic waste export ban affect tyre-derived streams?
No. The plastic-waste export restrictions in Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 apply to plastic waste, and rubber is not plastic, so tyre-derived streams do not fall under that particular prohibition. The general waste shipment regime still applies to whatever is classified as waste, so the waste-or-product question still has to be settled.
Who to ask about Tyre pyrolysis oil (TPO)
Ask us. TPO to place, or looking for consistent aromatic feed? Send the sulphur, the metals and the distillation curve. We answer the same working day, in English or Dutch, and there is no charge and no obligation for a market read or a second opinion on a specification.
You get Bart van den Brug directly, not a call centre and not a form that goes nowhere. We are an independent broker: we never take title, we do not trade our own book, and we are paid a commission only on business that actually concludes. That is why we will also tell you when the answer is no.
+31 6 115 83 448
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Sustainable Commodities 3 B.V., Lemmer, the Netherlands
Last reviewed 09 August 2026 by Bart van den Brug, Sustainable Commodities 3 B.V. (KvK 99665042), Lemmer, the Netherlands. Regulatory references are given for orientation and are not legal advice; verify against the current Official Journal text before contracting.