Waste tyres are both an environmental liability and an infrastructure resource. Examine the potential and constraints of using crumb rubber modified bitumen in India's road sector.

India is the world's 7th-largest tyre producer, making about 4.2 million tonnes of tyres in 2024–25 [3]. So its end-of-life tyre stream keeps growing. In Crumb Rubber Modified Bitumen (CRMB), waste tyres are shredded and ground, then mixed into the bitumen binder. This turns a disposal problem into a road-building material. Standards exist under IRC:SP:53 [1], but adoption is held back by market and regulatory gaps.

Potential

• Better roads: CRMB resists ageing and fatigue better than plain bitumen. It stays stable in high heat, resists cracking in cold weather and handles water better [1].
• Climate fit: India has very hot plains and cold hill regions, so a binder that resists both rutting and cracking suits it well. CRMB is laid in the wearing coat of flexible pavements [1].
• Circular economy: Imported waste tyres are allowed for making crumb rubber and CRMB. Imports for pyrolysis oil are banned [2]. This means the law already favours turning tyres into materials rather than fuel.
• Lifecycle savings: Longer-lasting surfaces mean fewer resurfacing cycles, which saves public money over time.

Constraints

• Lowest-bid procurement: CRMB costs more upfront. Tenders that go to the lowest initial cost discourage contractors from choosing it, even though it lasts longer.
• Weak EPR design: EPR for Waste Tyres was notified in July 2022 under the Hazardous Waste Rules, 2016 [2]. However, NITI Aayog says EPR certificates need a precise, auditable mechanism [3]. As things stand, cheaper recycling routes compete with crumb rubber for the same tyres.
• Informal sector and no product standards: NITI Aayog notes regulatory inconsistencies, informal operations and a lack of product standards in tyre recycling [3]. This weakens the quality and steady supply of crumb rubber.
• Technical issues: Rubber can separate out of hot bitumen in storage. This needs proper blending capacity and quality control at the plant.

Way Forward

• MoRTH and state PWDs should name CRMB in tenders for selected stretches and judge bids on lifecycle cost.
• NITI Aayog's proposals should be put into effect [3]: an auditable EPR certificate system, product standards and tighter oversight of recyclers.

CRMB can turn a polluting waste into a longer-lasting road. Lifecycle-cost procurement and a tighter EPR system can make that happen at scale, in line with SDG 9 (resilient infrastructure) and SDG 12 (responsible consumption).