Mathe Group, a South African radial truck tyre recycler, has announced a multi-million-rand investment in advanced equipment to recover high-quality “clean steel” from end-of-life tyres. The new systems include a steel cleaning mill with automated packaging and several state-of-the-art de-beading machines, designed to increase efficiency, improve product quality, and expand export potential.

Steel makes up nearly 30% of each radial truck tyre and has traditionally been treated as a low-value by-product. With the new technology, Mathe Group can extract steel beads intact, remove rubber contamination, and produce a higher-value material suitable for direct industrial use. This cleaner steel, destined for markets in India and South Korea, commands up to double the international price of untreated scrap and is expected to generate a significant new revenue stream.

The upgraded process will also allow in-house cleaning, eliminating the current practice of sending steel abroad for processing before it enters global manufacturing supply chains. By reducing rubber contamination from around 10% to under 2%, the plant is preparing to ship around 108 tonnes of clean steel per week once operations are fully scaled by January 2026.

In addition to steel recovery, the investment will yield more rubber crumb — an extra 8% from each tyre — which is used in applications such as playgrounds, sports fields, and paving. According to Mathe Group, the technology also reduces emissions and operating costs by replacing older, oil-driven equipment.

The development is seen as a significant step for South Africa’s tyre recycling sector, showing how innovation in waste-to-value processes can open new markets, strengthen export earnings, and contribute to the circular economy.

Read more about this initiative in the original article.