FEATURED TOPIC – TYRE RECYCLING
Road to recovery A FOCUS ON RECLAIMING OFF-THE-ROAD TYRES IS GAINING TRACTION WITH SOME HEAVY HITTERS JOINING THE CAUSE.
T
yre Stewardship Australia has claimed a victory in its drive to find solutions for Off-the-Road (OTR) tyres at their end of life. In October, big name OTR tyre importers Bearcat, Bridgestone Mining Solutions, Goodyear, Kal Tire, Michelin and Yokohama committed to the voluntary Tyre Product Stewardship Scheme from January 2022. The tyre importers have agreed to contribute financially to the scheme and help find sustainable outcomes for the almost 114,000 tonnes of OTR tyres buried, stockpiled or sent to landfill annually. Lina Goodman, TSA Chief Executive,
says it’s a “massive step forward” on what will be a long road ahead. “These are leading tyre importers that are saying ‘we need to fix our focus’,” Lina says. “They’re taking a leadership role because they understand the corporate social responsibility of manufacturing tyres. “Every year that we don’t find sustainable outcomes for OTR tyres is a lost opportunity to better recover the valuable resources they contain. The social and environmental harm is likely to be felt for generations. “This problem exists on a global scale and the Australian mining, agriculture, construction, manufacturing and aviation
sectors now have the opportunity to assist Australia be world leaders when it comes to recovery of the OTR tyres and related products.” About 140,000 tonnes of OTR tyres are sold into the Australian market each year to industries including mining, agriculture, manufacturing, construction and aviation. Less than 15 per cent of end-of-life tyres within the sector are recovered as a resource. With almost 400 mines operating around Australia and 371 million hectares of land used for agriculture, it’s no surprise that the mining and agriculture sectors consume more than 75 per cent of all OTR tyres.
Tyre Stewardship Australia is turning its attention to Off-the-Road (OTR) tyres.
40 / WMR / December 2021
