The increase in rubber waste production due to the rapid industrialization and especially the growth in automotive industry is one of the most important challenges in waste management of 21th century. Because of their network structure, natural degradation of rubber wastes lasts too long. Besides, the reuse / recovery of waste rubber without any pre-treatment is impossible. Therefore, the number of the studies about the reuse/recycle of waste tires has accelerated in recent years. Studies focus on waste tire rubbers because 70% of the rubber produced in the world is being used in tire industry. Many new methods were developed for reuse/recycle of waste tire rubber. One of the methods developed is bio-devulcanization, which attracts attention because of its low energy requirement, selectively breakage of S bonds without main chain scission and being an environmentally friendly method. In this study, the methods used in the management of waste tire rubber, in particular, the devulcanization method were explained and, by focusing on bio-devulcanization method, the research studies on bio-devulcanization have been investigated. The factors to be considered and the operational conditions of bio-devulcanization are presented and the potential of bio-devulcanization for waste tire management is evaluated. Although the studies about bio-devulcanization in literature are limited, the results obtained are found to be promising.

Keyword(s):Recovery, rubber, bio-devulcanization, bio-desulfurization,

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