WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ACTION – TYRE RECYCLING
Cleaning up a legacy stockpile TYRECYCLE’S JIM FAIRWEATHER EXPLAINS THE STRATEGIC PLANNING REQUIRED TO CLEAN UP ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST TYRE STOCKPILES IN REGIONAL VICTORIA.
Tyrecycle was appointed last year to clean up a legacy stockpile at Numurkah. Photo credit: EPA Victoria
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ne of Australia’s largest tyre stockpiles, located within metres of homes and businesses in Victoria, was this year cleaned up by the Victorian Government. The government at the end of last year appointed Tyrecycle, one of the country’s most experienced tyre recyclers, for the clean-up operation, with the site now deemed safe. Over 44 operational days, Tyrecycle removed a 5200 tonne stockpile, equivalent to 500,000 tyres, at Numurkah near Shepparton, which posed an extreme fire, health and safety risk to local residents. The total transformation of the site saw 334 truckloads of tyre waste removed over this period.
38 / WMR / June 2019
The company worked closely with Moira Shire Council along with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), which used its powers to enter the site late last year under the Environment Protection Act 1970. The EPA introduced tighter controls for waste tyre storage in 2015, prompting a significant reduction in the number of known stockpiles across Victoria, with Numurkah being one of the legacy sites. The Environment Protection Act 1970 requires scheduled premises to be licensed, with requirements for onsite firefighting resources, limits on the size of the piles and minimum distances between and around them. Stockpiles of more than 40 tonnes or 5000 equivalent passenger car units
of waste tyres are scheduled premises under the regulations. EPA CEO Dr Cathy Wilkinson said the site was an unacceptable fire, environmental and human health risk. Tyrecycle began work on cleaning up the site in December 2018 under the control and guidance of the EPA and Moira Shire Council. Jim Fairweather, Tyrecycle CEO, says that the company was transporting 125 tonnes of end-oflife tyres per day from Numurkah to Tyrecycle’s EPA-licensed processing facility in Melbourne at Somerton, where they were cleaned, sorted and shredded for recycling. “Tyrecycle ramped up its Melbourne facility to a 24/7 operation for the project and doubled its processing capability to remove the huge amount of waste tyres in the most efficient and time effective way,” Jim says. “We increased our staffing levels to handle the waste, with most of each delivery being processed within 24 hours.” According to the CFA and EPA, the consequences of a fire at the Numurkah site would have been catastrophic to the local community with air quality impacted and the contamination of soil, groundwater and surface waters. “It was a great outcome for the local residents, to help them feel safe again
