The invention relates to a pyrolysis method and reactor for recovering at least one component from a tire material using thermal decomposition. The tire material is delivered to a pyrolytic chamber (1), exposed to a controlled atmosphere and heated to a decomposition temperature of the at least one component in the pyrolytic chamber (1) by microwave radiation. A variable power microwave radiation at frequencies between 300 MHz and 2500 MHZ is applied to sequentially vary a temperature in the pyrolytic chamber (1) over a temperature range including the decomposition temperature of the at least one component.