A team of scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has developed a groundbreaking chemical recycling method that could offer a cleaner, more sustainable solution to the growing global problem of tyre waste, using a low-energy method to break down tyre rubber into building blocks for epoxy resins, offering a cleaner alternative to traditional recycling.
Each year, more than 274 million tyres are discarded in the US, with millions ending up in landfills. The study, recently published in the journal “Nature,” outlines a novel method of breaking down used rubber and transforming it into useful industrial materials—specifically, precursors for epoxy resins used in products like adhesives, wind turbines and automotive parts.
“There’s a substantial amount of rubber accumulating in landfills,” said Dr. Aleksandr Zhukhovitskiy, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of chemistry at UNC-Chapel Hill. “These tyres provide an environment for microorganisms to grow and potentially release toxic materials, and over time, they can generate microplastics and other pollutants we don’t yet fully understand.”
Zhukhovitskiy’s lab has been focused on what he calls “editing the skeletons” of plastic materials—changing the structure of polymers to make them easier to break down or reuse. In the case of tyre rubber, the researchers used a gentle chemical process to insert nitrogen atoms into the material, creating a pathway for it to break apart into smaller, soluble pieces.
Unlike traditional recycling methods—such as shredding tyres into small particles or using high-heat pyrolysis—this chemical process operates at low temperatures and uses mild, environmentally friendly solvents. Zhukhovitskiy says that makes it a cleaner, less energy-intensive alternative.
“You’re not burning the material, so you avoid releasing pollutants like carbon dioxide and sulphur oxides, which can contribute to acid rain,” he said.
The end result is a liquid solution that contains amine-functionalised polymers, which can then be used to create epoxy resins with performance properties similar to those made from bisphenol A, a compound under scrutiny for its environmental and health risks.
While the innovation offers promising environmental benefits, it’s still in the early stages. Zhukhovitskiy said scaling the process to industrial levels will require further research, collaboration with engineers, and substantial funding.
The research team is now seeking grants to support larger-scale experiments and explore additional applications of the technique, including recycling other hard-to-break-down polymers.