Incineration
A very common, but not very environmentally sound, way to dispose of ELTs is to incinerate them in cement kilns.
A tyre contains energy which can be released through incineration/combustion. However to burn the fine materials contained in a tyre is a waste of valuable raw materials.
Only a small percentage of the initial cost incurred in producing a tyre is regained in the process of incinerating them. This is exemplified by the fact that burning 1 kilo of rubber provides the same amount of energy as burning 1 kilo of oil and that 6 kilos of oil have been used in the process of producing 1 kilo of tyres.
It is obvious that from an environmental as well as an economic point of view the better solution is to recycle the tyres.