Every year, billions of waste tires are generated worldwide. If these tires are landfilled, stockpiled, or illegally dumped, they can create serious environmental problems while wasting valuable recyclable materials.
Rubber granules have become one of the most important recycled products in the tire recycling industry. Through shredding, grinding, magnetic separation, fiber separation, and screening, waste tires can be transformed into high-value rubber granules used in artificial turf, playground surfaces, rubberized asphalt, industrial flooring, and many other applications.
A rubber granulator plays a critical role in this process. It converts pre-shredded rubber materials into uniform rubber granules with controlled particle sizes and high purity.
This article explains the complete process of making rubber granules with a rubber granulator, including raw material preparation, tire shredding, granulation, screening, and quality control.
Rubber granules are mainly produced from recycled waste rubber materials, especially scrap tires. These materials are widely available and contain high amounts of reusable rubber compounds.
Common raw materials include:
Waste passenger car tires
Truck tires
OTR tires
EPDM rubber
Rubber conveyor belts
Rubber offcuts and industrial rubber scrap
Before entering the recycling process, the materials are carefully sorted to remove contaminants such as plastic, stones, dust, and metal impurities.
High-quality raw materials help improve the purity of the final rubber granules while reducing wear on recycling equipment.
Waste tires are the dominant raw material in rubber granule production because they contain high rubber content and are available in large quantities.
Passenger tires, truck tires, and OTR tires all contain valuable rubber that can be recovered and reused.
Before entering the rubber granulator, the material is usually processed into:
Rubber chips
Tire blocks
Pre-shredded rubber
Sidewalls and tread rubber
These materials are easier to process and improve granulation efficiency.
Tires contain steel wire and textile fiber reinforcement materials.
If these contaminants remain inside the rubber granules, they can reduce product quality and affect downstream applications.
Efficient magnetic separation and fiber separation are essential for producing high-purity rubber granules.
Before rubber granulation begins, waste tires must go through several pre-processing steps.
These steps help reduce equipment wear, improve production efficiency, and increase the purity of the finished rubber granules.
Waste tires containing steel rims or bead wires must first pass through a tire debeader machine.
This process removes the steel bead wire and wheel rim before shredding.
Removing the bead wire helps:
Protect shredder blades
Improve steel recovery quality
Reduce maintenance costs
Truck tires and OTR tires contain thick sidewalls and strong steel reinforcement.
A tire sidewall cutter removes the sidewalls before shredding, which helps reduce energy consumption and improve production efficiency.
After pre-treatment, the tires enter a tire shredder machine.
The shredder reduces the tires into 50–100 mm rubber chips through high-torque cutting and tearing.
At this stage, part of the steel wire and textile fiber is released from the rubber material.
The ideal feed material for a rubber granulator includes:
50–100 mm tire chips
Rubber blocks
Pre-shredded rubber
Tire tread rubber
Uniform feed material helps maintain stable granulation performance and consistent output quality.
Rubber granule production involves several stages including shredding, granulation, screening, magnetic separation, and fiber separation.
Each stage directly affects the quality of the finished product.
Waste tires are collected and sorted according to tire type.
Different tires contain different levels of rubber, steel wire, and textile fiber.
Truck tires and OTR tires usually require stronger separation systems because of their higher steel content.
Large truck tires and OTR tires may require additional cutting before shredding.
A tire cutter machine reduces oversized tires into smaller sections to improve shredding efficiency.
The tires are shredded into rubber chips through a twin-shaft tire shredder.
The typical output size is 50–100 mm.
Magnetic separators remove steel wire from the shredded rubber material.
Common equipment includes:
Overband magnetic separators
Magnetic drum separators
Efficient magnetic separation helps improve rubber purity while increasing steel recycling value.
This is the core stage of the production line.
The rubber granulator cuts and grinds rubber chips into smaller particles using rotating blades and fixed blades.
Different screen mesh sizes control the final rubber granule size.
Common output sizes include:
1–4 mm rubber granules
2–6 mm rubber granules
10–40 mesh crumb rubber
Oversized particles are automatically recirculated back into the grinding chamber for further processing.
A vibrating screen separates the rubber granules into different particle sizes.
Oversized material is returned to the granulator while properly sized particles move to the next stage.
This process ensures consistent particle size distribution.
Residual textile fiber is removed through:
Fiber separators
Air classifiers
Wind sifters
Dust collection systems improve product cleanliness and reduce airborne particles inside the workshop.
Finished rubber granules are packed into:
25 kg bags
50 kg bags
Jumbo bags
Bulk containers
The finished product should be stored in a dry and ventilated environment.
A rubber granulator is designed for fine rubber size reduction and particle control.
Unlike a tire shredder, which performs coarse shredding, a rubber granulator focuses on producing uniform rubber granules.
The machine uses rotating blades and fixed blades to repeatedly cut the rubber material into smaller particles.
The screen mesh determines the final granule size.
Smaller mesh holes produce finer crumb rubber.
Larger mesh holes produce coarse rubber granules.
Oversized particles remain inside the grinding chamber until they become small enough to pass through the screen mesh.
This helps maintain consistent particle size and stable product quality.
| Equipment | Main Function | Output Size | Processing Stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tire Shredder | Coarse shredding and size reduction | 50–100 mm rubber chips | Pre-processing |
| Rubber Granulator | Fine grinding and particle sizing | 1–6 mm rubber granules | Final processing |
Rubber granules can be produced through ambient grinding or cryogenic grinding.
Each process has different advantages and production costs.
Ambient grinding is the most widely used rubber granule production method.
The process operates at room temperature and uses mechanical cutting and grinding forces.
Advantages include:
Lower equipment investment
Lower operating costs
Lower energy consumption
Suitable for large-scale tire recycling plants
Cryogenic grinding uses liquid nitrogen to freeze rubber materials before grinding.
The frozen rubber becomes brittle and breaks more easily.
Advantages include:
Smoother particle surfaces
Higher purity
More uniform particle size
However, cryogenic systems require significantly higher operating costs and equipment investment.
Ambient grinding is the preferred option for most tire recycling businesses because it offers lower production costs and mature processing technology.
Cryogenic grinding is mainly used for high-end fine rubber powder applications.
Different rubber granule sizes are used for different applications.
| Granule Size | Main Applications |
|---|---|
| 4–8 mm | Playground surfaces, horse arenas, shock absorption layers |
| 2–4 mm | Rubberized asphalt, industrial flooring, rubber tiles |
| 1–2 mm | Artificial turf infill, sports surfaces |
| ＜0.5 mm | Rubber powder, adhesives, recycled rubber products |
Large rubber granules provide excellent impact absorption and anti-slip performance.
Medium-sized rubber granules are commonly used in rubberized asphalt and industrial flooring applications.
Fine rubber granules help improve elasticity and shock absorption in artificial turf systems.
Fine rubber powder is used in adhesives, molded rubber products, and recycled rubber manufacturing.
The quality of rubber granules directly affects product value and downstream applications.
Consistent particle size improves product appearance and processing performance.
Residual steel wire may damage downstream equipment and reduce product safety.
Multi-stage magnetic separation is recommended.
Excessive textile fiber can reduce granule purity and flowability.
Efficient fiber separation systems are essential.
Moisture content should generally remain below 1–2%.
Dust collection systems improve both product cleanliness and working conditions.
Blade quality and screen design directly affect:
Granulation efficiency
Equipment lifespan
Particle consistency
Rubber granules are widely used in many industries because of their durability, elasticity, and environmental benefits.
Rubber granules are commonly used as infill material for synthetic grass fields.
Rubber granules provide excellent shock absorption and safety performance.
Rubber-modified asphalt improves road durability and reduces traffic noise.
Rubber granules can be processed into:
Rubber mats
Rubber tiles
Rubber pavers
Colored rubber granules are often used in landscaping and decorative surface applications.
A complete rubber granule production line usually includes several types of recycling equipment.
Used for removing bead wire from waste tires.
Used for primary tire shredding.
Used for fine rubber granulation.
Used for steel wire separation.
Used for textile fiber removal.
Used for material screening and conveying.
Choosing the right rubber granulator is important for production efficiency and operating cost control.
Different models support different output capacities.
The feed size should match the granulator design.
The required output size determines screen mesh configuration.
High-quality alloy steel blades improve service life and reduce maintenance costs.
Energy-efficient equipment helps reduce long-term operating expenses.
Modern systems may include:
PLC control
Automatic overload protection
Temperature monitoring
Remote monitoring functions
No. Whole tires must first go through shredding and pre-treatment stages.
Rubber granules are usually larger particles, while crumb rubber refers to finer rubber material.
Yes. Fine grinding systems can further process rubber granules into rubber powder.
High-quality rubber granules usually require:
Steel content ≤0.5%
Fiber content ≤0.3%
Moisture content ≤1–2%
The investment cost depends on:
Production capacity
Automation level
Equipment configuration
Final product size
As demand for recycled rubber materials continues to grow worldwide, rubber granule production has become an increasingly profitable business opportunity.
A complete tire recycling system can help businesses convert waste tires into valuable recycled rubber products while reducing environmental pollution.
Different applications require different rubber granule sizes and production capacities.
Customized production lines can be designed according to specific project requirements.
If you are looking for a complete rubber granule production solution, professional recycling equipment suppliers can provide customized layouts, equipment recommendations, and technical support according to your production goals.
