Tyres, whole or chipped, can no longer be landfilled (Environmental Legislation) so other uses for used tyres must be found. The methods of extending and disposing of end of life tyres is through their uses as a material for surfaces such as children’s playgrounds or sports surfaces. Some tyres can be remoulded and eventually re-used on road vehicles and some are exported for reuse. None of these methods however, provide an ultimate solution because the products are still subject to wear and tear and will require eventual disposal in the future.

Other challenges to tyre recycling include:

• Used tyres arise at over 20,000 collection points all over the UK
  
• Storage of used tyres requires space and can present potential environmental hazards – thus collection must be made daily.
  
• Due to their shape and size tyres are difficult to handle - making collection much more expensive
  
• Large investments and high volumes are needed to make processing economic. To date the level of investment
  required by Sapphire and the cement industry to establish the infrastructure for Sapphire's services is in excess of £15 million.