Currently 1.000.000 t of waste rubber are released per year, approx. 55 % of which are scrap tires and 45 % are other elastomer products. Looking at the increasing number of new cars which have been registrated in a period of 10 years until 1992 and taking into consideration a product life of 10 years we have to assume that the number of waste tires will increase considerably until 2002. Looking at the actual legislation, the utilization of waste rubber is of particular interest. This paper provides an investigation and a presentation of the possibilities for a thermal utilization of waste rubber (tires, technical and other elastomer products). Criteria for the evaluation of the different procedures will be energy balance, emission and residual materials. These criteria perform a preliminary assessment of the ecological and economical chances to solve the problem of recovering waste rubber.