Trinidad's Million-Tyre Problem Is Becoming Road Beneath Your Wheels

Reporting for this article was provided by the University of Trinidad and Tobago in collaboration with the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) and the University of the West Indies.

Key Points

✓ Trinidad and Tobago discards 1.5 million tyres annually with no infrastructure to process them at scale. The University of Trinidad and Tobago's (UTT) pilot granulation facility at its San Fernando Campus converts waste tyres into rubber crumb — a material with verified commercial applications across road construction, flooring, and manufactured goods.
✓ UTT, the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI), and the University of the West Indies (UWI) completed formula optimisation studies for rubber-modified asphalt, culminating in a successful pilot road paving exercise. Rubber-modified surfaces outperform conventional mixes under tropical heat and seasonal rainfall — conditions that accelerate road degradation across the region.
✓ Road construction materials across the Caribbean are currently imported, representing a persistent outflow of regional spending. A locally produced, waste-derived alternative backed by field performance data from the San Fernando pilot changes the procurement calculation for public works departments across CARICOM member states.
✓ Students, researchers, and private sector partners work at every stage of the project — from formula development through market research to business model design — building commercial evidence and graduate capacity simultaneously.

At UTT's San Fernando Campus, a granulation machine processes something most people write off. Discarded car tyres — shredded, ground, and sifted into fine black granules — emerge as rubber crumb: a material that can be mixed into road asphalt, pressed into floor tiles, and manufactured into shoe soles for markets across the Caribbean.

The archipelago discards 1.5 million tyres annually. They accumulate in vacant lots and informal dumping grounds, collecting standing water that breeds mosquitoes and occasionally igniting into slow-burning fires that push toxic smoke across residential streets. For decades, no infrastructure existed to manage them at scale. The Rubber Crumb Project — developed by UTT in collaboration with CARIRI and UWI — turns that waste stream into input material with documented commercial value.

Professor Prakash Persad, UTT's President, frames this within a specific institutional commitment: "At UTT, we have deliberately nurtured a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship that is deeply rooted in relevance, ensuring that our research and education directly address national development priorities and regional challenges." For a twin-island economy long structured around oil and gas revenues — and repeatedly pressed to diversify — a facility that converts domestic waste into export-ready goods represents a concrete industrial model for that commitment.

Asphalt That Holds in the Heat

Rubber-modified asphalt is more technically demanding than it sounds. Working together, UTT, CARIRI, and UWI completed formula optimisation studies to determine the right proportions of rubber crumb, binding agents, and temperature parameters to produce a surface that outperforms conventional mixes under local conditions. Granule size, distribution, and curing behaviour all affect how a finished road responds to loading and sustained heat — and Caribbean roads face conditions that accelerate conventional asphalt's degradation. Intense sun softens it; heavy seasonal rainfall undermines structural integrity. The rubber-modified version handles both better.

The pilot road paving exercise completed at San Fernando moved this from laboratory finding to field evidence. Public works departments and contractors need performance data under real-world conditions before changing material specifications — not formula results from controlled settings. Standard road materials across Trinidad and the wider Caribbean are currently imported. A locally produced alternative, made from a waste stream the islands already generate in volume, places a different option on the table for procurement decisions that have, until now, had no domestic competitor.

Market research studies are simultaneously building the commercial case for mats, tiles, and footwear components produced from the same granulation process. Road asphalt is a large-volume government procurement market with long contract cycles; mats, tiles, and footwear move faster to commercial revenue. Running both product tracks simultaneously gives the project momentum that does not depend on a single large contract landing first. New equipment is being procured to expand production capacity as the commercial trials progress.

How the Rubber Crumb Process Works

Waste tyres are collected and fed into a granulation machine that shreds, grinds, and sifts the material into fine rubber crumb. The process removes steel and fibre contaminants, leaving clean granules graded by particle size.

Rubber crumb is then blended into road asphalt at specific ratios determined through formula optimisation — a process requiring careful calibration of granule size, binding agents, and temperature parameters. The same granules are pressed or moulded into floor tiles, matting, and footwear components through separate manufacturing steps.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis and bioinformatics are not part of this project — but the granulation and product manufacturing processes are fully operable at UTT's San Fernando Campus, with new equipment procurement underway to expand production capacity.

Student researchers and practitioners are involved at every stage: formula optimisation, equipment operation, market research, and business model development all run through UTT's curriculum alongside industry partners. The UTT Rubber Crumb Project team notes: "The project's regional significance lies in its replicability — with widespread issues surrounding tyre disposal in Caribbean countries, this model can be adapted to serve other small island developing states." A graduate who has worked across formula optimisation, supply chain design, and export market research for a circular economy venture leaves with applied capacity that no conventional engineering or business curriculum produces independently.

Replicating Across the Water

Every small island developing state in the Caribbean faces roughly the same tyre disposal situation: growing vehicle fleets, limited land for waste, no domestic recycling industry, and continued reliance on imported road materials that make the problem invisible rather than resolved. UTT's technology and business model were developed for local conditions in Trinidad that hold across most of the region.

Taking it beyond these islands requires more than transferring equipment specifications. Governments and contractors across CARICOM need cost-competitiveness demonstrated, not asserted. They need performance data over time, supply reliability, and a local value chain that makes procurement from within the region rational rather than merely preferable in principle. The San Fernando pilot road is the first layer of that evidence. The commercial trials and market research now underway are building the rest — assembling the documentation that procurement decisions in other territories would require before a material specification changes.

Road materials currently flow into the Caribbean from outside, taking spending with them. A regional supply chain in rubber-modified asphalt and rubber-manufactured goods would redirect some of that value into local economies and create trade in a material every island currently treats as a disposal liability. UTT's business case studies are mapping what market conditions need to look like for such a supply chain to be commercially viable, not just conceptually attractive.

New equipment procurement is ongoing. The formula is validated, the pilot road exists, and market research is active across multiple product lines. Whether the model spreads beyond Trinidad depends on what that evidence base shows — and on whether procurement systems that currently buy from outside the region find the performance and cost numbers compelling enough to look closer to home.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Rubber Crumb Project and who is involved?

The Rubber Crumb Project is a circular economy initiative led by the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), developed in collaboration with the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) and the University of the West Indies (UWI). It converts waste tyres into rubber crumb for use in road construction and manufactured goods, addressing Trinidad and Tobago's annual disposal of 1.5 million tyres.

What products can be made from rubber crumb?

Rubber crumb produced at UTT's San Fernando facility has verified applications in rubber-modified road asphalt, floor tiles, matting, and footwear components. Road asphalt represents the largest volume application for government procurement, while tiles, matting, and footwear provide faster paths to commercial revenue.

Why does rubber-modified asphalt perform better in the Caribbean?

Conventional asphalt softens under intense tropical sun and loses structural integrity during heavy seasonal rainfall. Rubber-modified surfaces are more flexible under sustained heat and more resistant to cracking and rutting — both common failure modes on Caribbean roads. The performance advantage is particularly meaningful in a region where road maintenance represents a significant recurring public expenditure.

Has the rubber-modified asphalt been tested on actual roads?

Yes. Following formula optimisation studies completed by UTT, CARIRI, and UWI, a pilot road paving exercise was completed at San Fernando Campus. This provides field performance data under real-world conditions — a necessary step before public works departments would consider changing material specifications.

How does this project benefit students and researchers?

Students and practitioners are embedded in every stage of the project — from formula development and equipment operation to market research and business model design. This structure provides applied training in circular economy processes that conventional engineering and business curricula do not produce independently, preparing graduates to operate and potentially scale similar ventures.

Can this model be replicated across the Caribbean?

UTT's project team identifies replicability as central to the initiative's regional significance. Most Caribbean small island developing states face identical conditions: high volumes of waste tyres, limited disposal infrastructure, and dependence on imported road materials. The technology and business model developed at UTT were built for conditions that apply across the region. Scaling beyond Trinidad requires building the commercial evidence base — cost data, supply reliability, and performance records — that procurement decisions in other territories would require.