Some tar-containing materials can be recovered or processed in industrial settings, but tar is not something to recycle casually at home. The answer depends on whether the material is wood tar, coal tar, asphalt, roofing product, or contaminated waste.
Tar recycling is complicated because tar is rarely just tar by the time someone wants to dispose of it. It may be mixed with roofing felt, gravel, timber, soil, rope, paint, road aggregate, solvent, or old preservatives. Those mixtures can have very different rules and practical possibilities.
Modern road materials are often recycled when they are asphalt-based, but that does not mean all old road tar is harmless or reusable. Historic coal-tar binders and contaminated materials may require controlled handling. Roofing waste can also be messy and mixed with other products.
A tin of leftover pine tar may be used up on appropriate outdoor projects if it is still sound, but that is reuse rather than recycling. If it is unknown, contaminated, or no longer labelled, it should be treated more cautiously.
The simple public answer is that tar can sometimes be recovered in specialist systems, but household-level tar recycling is not straightforward. Identification and local waste guidance matter more than the general word tar.