vulcanized rubber is reclaimed by treating pieces of the rubber to render a surface layer of each piece plastic while the inner core of the piece remains non - plastic . a chemical reagent can be used in the treatment , but it is preferred to render the surface layers of the rubber pieces plastic by a heat treatment which involves direct exposure of the pieces of rubber to either a flame or a heated gas . in a preferred embodiment of the invention vulcanized rubber pieces are dropped under gravity into a flame so that any attached textile residues are burnt away simultaneously with the plasticizing of the surface layers of the pieces , and the heated pieces then enter a stream of cold air which quenches the heat treatment . vulcanized rubber articles made from the rubber reclaimed by the method of the invention have improved properties as compared with articles made by the conventional methods of reusing vulcanized rubber .