The full life cycle of tyres sold in Australia will be added to the product stewardship list of the Environment Minister in a bid to ensure the best outcome for used tyres
The move, announced on October 21, has been welcomed by many in the tyre industry who are already involved voluntarily in the National Tyre Product Stewardship Scheme (the Scheme).
The Scheme is financed by voluntary contributions by 49 per cent of tyre importers and has almost 1700 accredited participants, which include tyre retailers, collectors/recyclers, local government, mining and fleet organisations.
At the moment, 80 per cent of Australia’s used tyre derived material is shipped overseas, often to developing countries.
“Current Scheme contributors and participants are the pioneers and innovators in the sustainable management, recycling and productive use of recovered end-of-life tyres,” says Lina Goodman, CEO of Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA) which administers the Scheme.
“They do this voluntarily with their investment yielding significant outcomes and benefits for Australia so far. But the recent independent review conducted by Arcoona Consulting, shows that, as a voluntary initiative the Scheme has reached its peak in its ability to effectively recover and reuse end-of-life tyres.
“That it is still far from leveraging the full environmental, social and economic benefits this recovered resource can deliver.
“That without timely regulatory intervention, the Scheme will be unable to shift the dial on these critical indicators or meet community expectations to maximise waste reduction, reuse and recycling outcomes within Australia.”
Goodman says the current situation sees us shipping of potential jobs overseas.
“Australia still exports 80 per cent of its recovered end-of-life tyre derived material. This means we are effectively exporting opportunities for local manufacturing and job creation,” she says.
“Currently, less than 15 per cent of used off-the-road tyres from mining, agriculture and construction are recovered.
“Because of the high rubber content in these large tyres, an exceptionally valuable resource, this is a missed opportunity to deliver substantial environmental, social and economic benefits for regional, rural and remote communities.
“Over 50 per cent of tyre importers are not currently contributing financially to the Scheme, but instead unfairly free-riding on the work that the Scheme is attempting to achieve.
The addition of the Scheme on the Minister’s priority list will bring it in line with the ‘cradle to cradle’ approach taken by other tyre schemes around the world.
“We applaud the Minister for the Environment and Water, the Hon. Tanya Plibersek, and all state and territory Environment ministers for listening to stakeholders and the community and recognising that these missed opportunities are no longer acceptable,” Goodman says.
“We also look forward to a timely outcome through co-regulation under the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020.”
Tyre Stewardship Australia was set up in 2014 to reduce the environmental, health and safety impacts of the 56 million Equivalent Passenger Units (EPUs) which reach their end of life in Australia each year.
As of 2022 it has committed over $8million to 56 projects creating real-world outcomes and solutions for Australia’s end-of-life tyres including roads, research, civil engineering, manufacturing, mining and rail.
Tyre and automotive importers that pay a voluntary levy to TSA include:
- Ascenso Tyres
- Bearcat
- Bridgestone
- Bridgestone Mining Solutions
- Continental
- Goodyear-Dunlop
- Hankook
- Kal Tire
- Kumho Tyres
- Mercedes-Benz
- Michelin
- Pirelli
- Porsche
- Toyo Tyres
- TyreConnect
- Volkswagen
- Yokohama
For more on the Scheme, visit www.tyrestewardship.org.au