On 5 June 2026, the rubber community came together at Clean Tech Park Arnhem, in the heart of the processing industry, for the thematic meeting Circular Rubber: From Ambition to Implementation, co-organized by M2i, RECYBEM, the Circular Rubber Platform, and the University of Groningen (RUG).
The meeting brought together academia, industry, applied research, recyclers, technology developers, and system-level stakeholders to explore how circular rubber solutions can move from promising concepts toward reliable, scalable, and high-value implementation.
Rubber is one of the essential materials of modern society. It keeps vehicles safely on the road, enables industrial machinery to operate, seals buildings and infrastructure, and supports countless technical and medical applications. Its value lies in its durability, elasticity, resistance, and performance. Yet these same qualities also make rubber a challenging material to recycle. Vulcanisation gives rubber its strength and stability, but it also makes reprocessing and reuse far more complex.
This tension shaped the central message of the day: circular rubber is not only a recycling challenge. It is also a materials performance challenge, a processing challenge, a scale-up challenge, an environmental assessment challenge, and a market acceptance challenge.
The programme reflected this broad perspective. Prof. Dr. Francesco Picchioni opened the technical discussion with insights into recent advances in rubber upcycling, highlighting both the scientific opportunities and the remaining barriers in rubber recycling technologies. Jesse Jongstra from New Born Rubber shared the journey of reinventing rubber recycling from idea to pilot plant, showing how novel upcycling routes can move toward practical implementation. Eric Roetman from Windesheim University of Applied Sciences addressed the environmental implications of devulcanisation scale-up from a life cycle assessment perspective, underlining the importance of measuring circular solutions not only technically, but also environmentally.
The meeting also looked at the future of rubber compounds and raw materials. Frances van Elburg from the University of Twente discussed the opportunities and challenges of using sustainable raw materials in rubber compounds, including the search for bio-based alternatives to fossil-derived ingredients. From an industrial perspective, Frans Ghijsen, CEO of Tyromer Europe, shared the urgent need to transform the tire value chain and highlighted the potential of devulcanisation technology to turn end-of-life tires back into valuable raw materials for tire-to-tire recycling.
System-level collaboration was another key theme. Enrico Koggel from the Circular Rubber Platform emphasized the importance of centralizing knowledge and mapping stakeholders to enable a circular rubber economy. Kees van Oostenrijk from RECYBEM brought the producer responsibility perspective, focusing on tyre safety, recovering value from end-of-life tyres, and the evolution from traditional end-of-life management toward future-oriented tyre ecodesign within a circular economy.
The table discussions formed an important part of the meeting and created space for participants to exchange perspectives in smaller groups. Three discussion tables addressed complementary aspects of the circular rubber transition:
Table 1 – Rubber recycling solutions, moderated by Prof. Francesco Picchioni from the University of Groningen, focused on recycling technologies, devulcanisation routes, material quality, and the practical steps needed to move technical solutions closer to industrial use.
Table 2 – System and policy aspects of circular rubber, moderated by Jan Boomsma from the Circular Rubber Platform and Manfred Rudolf from Rudolf Green Solutions, explored the wider system conditions needed for implementation, including regulation, market acceptance, value-chain coordination, standards, incentives, and stakeholder responsibilities.
Table 3 – Future circular rubber materials, moderated by Enrico Koggel from the Circular Rubber Platform, looked ahead to new materials, alternative raw materials, design-for-circularity principles, and the requirements future rubber compounds must meet to combine sustainability with performance.
Across the tables, participants discussed how recycled and devulcanised rubber can gain stronger market confidence, which applications offer promising routes to high-value use, what data and certification are needed, and how stakeholders across the rubber value chain can collaborate more effectively.
A recurring message was that implementation depends on trust. Trust in material quality. Trust in performance. Trust in environmental benefits. Trust in supply chains. Circular rubber solutions will only scale if they can demonstrate not only sustainability potential, but also reliability, consistency, durability, processability, and economic feasibility.
The meeting showed that circular rubber is no longer only an ambition. Technologies are developing, pilot activities are emerging, environmental assessment methods are being applied, and the community is increasingly connected. The next step is to strengthen the links between material innovation, industrial validation, policy, producer responsibility, and market demand.
M2i thanks RECYBEM, the Circular Rubber Platform, and the University of Groningen (RUG) for co-organizing the meeting, and thanks all speakers, moderators, all 60 participants, and partners for their valuable contributions. The transition from ambition to implementation will require continued collaboration — and this meeting was an important step in strengthening the circular rubber community.
More information and the full program can be found on the event page.
