Sidewall cutting gets most of its attention for the tread rings it produces and the PAS 108 bales those tread rings become. The sidewall sections are the other half of the story, literally, and they need their own management plan before you scale up cutting capacity.
Get the plan right, and sidewall sections become a consistent secondary output with an established disposal route. Leave it to chance, and you end up with an accumulating pile of rubber that disrupts site flow, creates a compliance risk, and eventually becomes a problem that stops the cutter running. This guide covers what cut sidewalls contain, which markets take them, what those markets require, and how to set up your site so sidewall output clears as reliably as tread rings reach the baler.
When a car tyre sidewall cutter or truck tyre sidewall cutter processes a tyre, it produces three pieces: two sidewall sections and a tread ring. Each sidewall section contains a defined set of materials that determine which disposal routes are open to it.
A car tyre sidewall section contains sidewall rubber compound (a softer, more flexible formulation than tread rubber), textile cord reinforcement running through the sidewall body, and the steel bead bundle at the inner diameter. The bead bundle is a loop of high-tensile steel wire embedded in hard rubber. In a car tyre, both bead bundles together weigh 300 to 600 grams.
A truck tyre sidewall section carries more of everything: heavier rubber compound, steel cord reinforcement where car tyres use textile, and significantly heavier bead bundles of 1.5 to 3 kg per tyre. The steel content makes truck tyre sidewall sections relevant for metal recovery discussions but also more demanding on downstream shredding equipment.
Energy recovery is the dominant end-use market for cut tyre sidewalls in the UK and across Europe, and cement kilns are the largest single consumer. At the temperatures involved in cement production (typically above 1,400°C in the burning zone), tyre rubber combusts completely. The rubber contributes calorific value comparable to coal, while the mineral content of the tyre, including zinc, sulphur, and silicon, replaces a proportion of the raw material inputs to the clinker.
This makes cement kilns an unusually compatible route for tyre-derived fuel rather than simply a disposal option. The tyre sections serve as fuel and raw material simultaneously. That dual function is why cement producers actively seek TDF supply arrangements rather than merely tolerating them.
Industrial furnaces and waste-to-energy facilities also accept cut tyre sections, though acceptance specifications vary by facility. Some accept sections of any size; others have maximum dimension requirements, typically under 250 mm on the longest axis for the most demanding specifications. Confirm the exact size requirements of your intended destination before assuming your sidewall sections are acceptable as cut from the machine. A truck tyre sidewall section measuring 450 mm across may not meet the dimensional specification of a facility that requires pre-cutting to 250 mm.
The price or disposal cost for sidewall sections going to energy recovery varies with market conditions and supply volume. Operations supplying consistent quantities under a pre-agreed supply arrangement typically achieve better commercial terms than those relying on ad hoc collections. Establishing this relationship before the machine runs at volume is the right order of events.
Understanding why sidewall sections are attractive to energy recovery facilities helps when negotiating supply terms. Tyre rubber has a calorific value of approximately 32 to 35 MJ/kg, roughly equivalent to high-grade coal and substantially above general mixed plastic waste. The rubber compound in a tyre sidewall retains most of this calorific value; the steel bead content (which has no combustion value) dilutes the average slightly but does not make the sections unattractive as fuel.
The reason tyre rubber burns so well is its high carbon and hydrogen content from the vulcanised natural and synthetic rubber base. Sulphur added during vulcanisation also contributes energy. This is the same chemistry that makes tyre fires so difficult to extinguish and why fire risk at tyre storage sites is taken seriously by the Environment Agency.
Cut tyre sidewalls can feed rubber granulation operations producing crumb rubber for playground surfacing, athletic track systems, rubber matting, and asphalt rubber modification. This route typically achieves a higher per-tonne value than energy recovery, but it comes with stricter input requirements.
Granulation operations producing quality crumb for playground or athletic applications generally prefer sidewall sections with bead wire removed (debeaded). Bead wire that enters the granulator alongside the rubber ends up as fine steel contamination in the output crumb. Even after magnetic separation, contamination levels can exceed the threshold for quality-sensitive applications. Car tyre sidewalls with their relatively modest bead content are more straightforwardly acceptable than truck tyre sidewalls with heavier steel cord and bead bundles.
Not all granulation operations apply the same specification. Some accept whole sidewall sections including bead wire and handle steel separation internally. Others require clean, bead-free rubber only. Know the specific requirements before agreeing a supply arrangement and plan your processing accordingly. The tyre rim separator and associated debeading capability can be added to a processing line where the granulation market justifies bead removal.
The calorific value argument does not apply to granulation: crumb rubber buyers are purchasing a physical material specification, not energy content. Contamination is the critical variable.
Whole cut tyre sections, including sidewalls, have been used in civil engineering applications where PAS 108 bale specification is not required. Tyre sections can serve in drainage layer construction, supplementary fill in embankment structures alongside PAS 108 bales, and retaining structure components in temporary or informal works.
This route is less commercially structured than energy recovery or granulation. Demand is project-specific rather than continuous, which means it absorbs material in irregular volumes tied to individual contracts rather than providing a steady outlet. For operations that need reliable disposal of consistent sidewall volumes, energy recovery is the dependable primary route. Civil engineering can usefully supplement it when project demand aligns.
Some civil engineering uses of tyre sections require the material to be sourced from specific processing operations with documented chain of custody. Check the requirements of any civil engineering buyer before agreeing supply terms.
Cut tyre sidewall sections cannot go to a standard landfill site. The Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002 prohibit the disposal of waste tyres in landfill, and cut tyre sections remain waste tyres under this prohibition regardless of how they are described on a manifest.
They cannot go into general waste skips or recycling containers without specific tyre waste authorisation for the receiving facility. The waste transfer note requirements and registered carrier requirements apply to cut sections exactly as they apply to whole tyres. Describing sections as rubber waste or rubber scrap rather than cut tyre sections does not change their regulatory classification.
Accumulating sidewall sections on-site without a disposal route creates compliance risk under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 duty of care. If quantities become substantial, the site may trigger an Environment Agency investigation. The EA’s waste tyre guidance specifies storage conditions and quantity limits that apply to cut sections as they do to whole tyres.
The volume of sidewall material a cutting operation produces is consistently larger than most operations anticipate before the machine starts running. At 300 car tyres per hour, the output is 600 sidewall sections per hour averaging 0.9 kg each, which is around 540 kg of sidewall sections per hour. At a 10-hour shift, that is over five tonnes of sidewall material generated in a single day.
Position a dedicated collection skip or hopper directly at the sidewall cutter’s ejection point. The container should hold at least two hours’ production between empties. For the processing rate cited, that means a skip of at least 1,100 kg capacity positioned immediately adjacent to the machine’s output side. Operators should not be manually relocating sidewall sections during the shift; the physical handling demand will slow throughput and create fatigue that affects the rest of the operation.
For higher-volume operations, a dedicated conveyor running parallel to the main tread ring conveyor transports sidewall sections automatically to a separate storage bay. This decouples sidewall section management from the main processing flow entirely. The conveyor systems Gradeall supplies alongside sidewall cutters and balers can be configured for both tread ring and sidewall section transport in parallel layouts.
Establish the collection or disposal arrangement before scaling up cutting capacity. Starting a cutting operation at volume without a confirmed sidewall disposal route means either halting production when storage fills or accumulating non-compliant stockpiles. The tread ring side of the operation, with bales going to the civil engineering market, receives the most planning attention. Sidewall output needs the same level of pre-arranged logistics.
The sidewall output plan is part of the broader question of how the complete tyre processing line operates as a whole. The MKII tyre baler processes the tread rings into PAS 108 bales at up to six bales per hour. The truck tyre sidewall cutter produces sidewall sections from larger tyres at a rate that, without a collection system in place, accumulates quickly.
Treating the processing line as two parallel output streams, tread rings flowing to the baler and sidewall sections flowing to a collection point, from the design stage rather than as an afterthought produces a cleaner site layout, simpler operator workflow, and fewer operational surprises. Contact Gradeall International for site layout planning support that addresses both output streams in the initial design.
“The operations that manage sidewall output well treat it as a planned output stream from day one, not an afterthought. The disposal arrangement is in place before the cutter starts running at volume. That way the machine produces tread rings for the baler and sidewall sections for the energy recovery arrangement, and both flows run cleanly. The operations that struggle are the ones that focus entirely on the baling side and only discover the sidewall pile problem after a few weeks of full production.”
It depends on volume, the destination facility, and current market conditions. Operations supplying consistent large volumes under a supply agreement to cement kilns often achieve a positive price per tonne. Smaller or irregular volumes more commonly involve a nominal disposal cost. The economics improve significantly with volume and with an established supply relationship that gives the TDF facility confidence in consistent delivery.
For most energy recovery routes, yes. Cement kilns accept mixed tyre categories without distinction. For granulation routes targeting specific rubber compound properties, keeping car and truck sidewall sections separate is better practice because the rubber formulations and steel cord content differ meaningfully. Confirm the specific requirement with your buyer before mixing categories.
No. Cement kilns and industrial furnaces accept tyre sections with bead wire intact. The steel content is modest relative to the rubber mass and does not impede combustion. The mineral content from the steel absorbs into the clinker chemistry. Bead wire is only a concern for granulation operations producing quality crumb rubber, where steel contamination creates output specification problems.
Tyre rubber has a calorific value of approximately 32 to 35 MJ/kg, comparable to high-grade coal. The steel bead wire content slightly reduces the average calorific value per kilogram of the full section, but cut sidewall sections remain attractive TDF feedstock for cement kilns and industrial furnaces.
Outdoor storage is possible but the Environment Agency recommends covered storage where practicable to reduce fire risk and prevent water accumulation in the rubber. The same storage quantity limits and fire break requirements that apply to whole tyres apply to cut sections. Do not assume that cutting the tyre changes its classification for storage compliance purposes.
This varies by facility. Many cement kilns accept whole sidewall sections without any size restriction. Some have maximum dimension requirements, commonly 250 to 300 mm on the longest axis. Truck tyre sidewall sections in particular can exceed these dimensions. Confirm the exact specification with your specific TDF buyer before agreeing a supply arrangement, and consider whether a further cutting step is needed for larger tyre categories.
Describe them accurately as cut tyre sidewall sections or as tyre-derived fuel sections, according to the terminology your waste contractor and receiving facility use. The waste should be classified correctly under the European Waste Catalogue (EWC) code applicable to waste tyres; your waste contractor can confirm the appropriate code. Do not describe the sections in a way that obscures their origin as waste tyre material.
The tyre recycling equipment range at gradeall.com covers the full processing sequence from sidewall cutting through to baling, including conveyor configurations that manage both tread ring and sidewall section output. Contact Gradeall International to discuss sidewall output management as part of your specific processing line design.
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