Spanish Tyre Recycling: Signus and Iberian Market Equipment Demand

By:     Kieran Donnelly

Spain’s Tyre Recycling Market: Scale and the Signus System

Spanish tyre recycling operates at a significant scale, with a vehicle fleet of approximately 30 million registered vehicles, a large commercial transport sector, a substantial agricultural industry, and a construction sector generating OTR and industrial tyre waste across an active infrastructure programme. Spain produces an estimated 180,000 to 220,000 tonnes of end-of-life tyres annually, ranking it third or fourth among EU tyre waste generators.

The structure of Spanish tyre recycling is shaped primarily by the Signus Ecovalor system, established in 2004 as Spain’s approved integrated management system for end-of-life tyres under Royal Decree 1619/2005. Signus operates alongside TNU (Tratamiento de Neumáticos Usados), a second approved system, to collectively manage the collection and treatment of end-of-life tyres in Spain. Together, these systems have achieved collection rates that consistently place Spain among Europe’s better-performing tyre management markets.

Spain’s geography creates tyre recycling logistics that differ significantly from those in compact Northern European markets. The country’s large area, the dispersion of population between major cities and rural regions, and the significant volume of tyre generation in agricultural areas across the Meseta, Extremadura, and Andalucía create collection economics that require a well-structured logistics network. Signus has invested substantially in building that network, with collection coverage now spanning mainland Spain and the Balearic and Canary Islands.

Gradeall International supplies tyre processing equipment to Spanish operations from its Dungannon, Northern Ireland manufacturing base. The MKII tyre baler, truck tyre sidewall cutter, OTR tyre sidewall cutter, tyre rim separator, and the full tyre recycling equipment range serve Spanish processors. With nearly 40 years of manufacturing experience and equipment in over 100 countries, Gradeall understands the Spanish and Iberian market context.

The Signus System: Structure and Operation

Signus Ecovalor is the principal approved integrated management system for end-of-life tyres in Spain, operating under the framework of Royal Decree 1619/2005 and subsequent revisions, within Spain’s broader waste management legislative framework established by Law 7/2022 on Waste and Contaminated Soil for a Circular Economy (Ley de Residuos y Suelos Contaminados para una Economía Circular).

The eco-contribution mechanism. Signus is funded by eco-contributions paid by tyre producers and importers (adheridos) for each tyre placed on the Spanish market. The eco-contribution rate varies by tyre category (car tyres, van tyres, truck tyres, agricultural tyres, motorcycle tyres, industrial OTR tyres). Contributions fund Signus’s collection logistics, transport to processing facilities, and treatment operator payments.

Collection network. Signus operates collection from approximately 12,000 authorised collection points across Spain, including tyre dealers (talleres de montaje), automotive service centres, vehicle dismantlers (desguaces), and dedicated collection depots. The collection network covers mainland Spain and the Balearic and Canary Islands, with ferry logistics for the island territories comparable to the Greek Ecoelastika island arrangements.

Authorised treatment operators. Spanish tyre processors must be authorised by the relevant autonomous community’s environmental authority and approved by Signus as treatment operators to access the Signus collection network and treatment payments. Approval requires a valid authorisation for waste management activities (autorización de gestión de residuos) from the autonomous community, demonstrated processing capability, and compliance with Signus’s operator requirements.

Spanish Regulatory Framework

Law 7/2022 on Waste. Spain’s Law 7/2022, the most recent revision of Spanish waste management legislation, transposes the revised EU Waste Framework Directive and strengthens Spain’s circular economy framework. The law establishes the waste hierarchy as a binding legal principle, strengthens EPR provisions, introduces new obligations on waste prevention and reuse, and sets progressive recycling targets aligned with EU requirements.

Autonomous community regulation. Spain’s seventeen autonomous communities (comunidades autónomas) have significant environmental governance responsibilities, including the licensing of waste management facilities. Tyre recycling facilities in Spain require waste management authorisation (autorización de gestión de residuos) from the autonomous community in which they are located; the specific procedural requirements vary by community. Cataluña, the Comunitat Valenciana, Andalucía, and Madrid each administer their own environmental permitting systems with autonomous community-specific requirements.

RERA register. Spain’s electronic waste tracking system, the Registro de Producción y Gestión de Residuos (RERA), maintained by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO), tracks waste flows across the country. Businesses that generate, collect, or process waste above specified thresholds must be registered with RERA and submit annual waste generation reports. Tyre processors registered with Signus also report to Signus’s data systems.

Processing Routes and the Iberian Market

Crumb rubber. Crumb rubber production is the dominant processing route by volume in Spain, serving domestic markets including artificial turf sports surfaces (Spain has a very large network of rubber-surfaced football pitches), playground safety surfacing, equestrian arenas, and rubber-modified asphalt (mezcla bituminosa con gránulos de caucho). Spain’s significant rubber-modified asphalt market, supported by the Spanish Road Association (AISNA) and regional road authorities, drives consistent domestic demand for crumb rubber.

Civil engineering baling. Spain’s extensive road network development, including motorway and high-speed rail construction under the TEN-T programme and national infrastructure plans, creates demand for civil engineering fill. The MKII tyre baler produces bales to PAS 108 specifications for Spanish civil engineering projects. There is no Spanish national tyre bale standard; PAS 108 serves as the reference document. Spanish construction companies (ACS, Ferrovial, Acciona) and the road authority (Dirección General de Carreteras) are the primary procurement targets.

Iberian Peninsula regional market. Portugal, sharing the Iberian Peninsula with Spain, represents a natural regional market extension for Spanish tyre recyclers. Portuguese Valorpneu collection volumes and processing demand can be supplemented by cross-border tyre supply from Spanish operations near the Portuguese border, subject to compliance with the EU Waste Shipment Regulation.

“Spain’s Signus system provides an excellent framework for tyre recyclers who meet its quality requirements,” says Conor Murphy, Director of Gradeall International. “The large tyre volumes, the active infrastructure programme creating civil engineering bale demand, and the Iberian regional market extension make Spain one of Europe’s most interesting tyre recycling investment locations.”

Contact Gradeall International for tyre processing equipment for Spanish Signus-participating operations.

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