Rubber hits the road on tyre recycling

Old tyres are being given a new life thanks to a jointly led recycling initiative by Alcoa Australia and Tyrecycle, a leader in tyre recycling.

As part of this initiative, “off-the-road” (OTR) haul truck tyres that have reached the end of their operational life are transported from Alcoa’s bauxite mines in the Peel and South West regions of Western Australia to Tyrecycle’s newly established East Rockingham facility where they are processed to create a crumbed rubber product.

The resulting product can be used for a variety of applications including as a crumbed rubber modified bitumen, and a range of soft-surface applications such as those used on athletics tracks and in playgrounds.

Nicole King, Alcoa’s Global Water and Waste Program Manager, said the recycling project had been a long time in the making and was the culmination of significant collaboration between Alcoa and Tyrecycle.

“We wanted to be sure our end-of-life OTR tyres were being managed and generating products that support our waste management objectives,” Nicole said. “OTR tyres are a significant material stream for our mining operations in Western Australia, and recycling end-of-life tyres will support our landfilled waste reduction efforts. In addition, the proximity of Tyrecycle’s new facility minimises the emissions generated during transport and supports local businesses and jobs.”

According to Tyrecycle, 130,000 tonnes of OTR tyres reach their end of life in Australia each year and less than 10 per cent of these are being recycled, posing a considerable environmental challenge. The company adds that every tonne of crumb rubber used in asphalt mixes represents a significant greenhouse gas saving.

Jim Fairweather, Tyrecycle’s CEO, said the East Rockingham facility was Australia’s largest and most flexible tyre recycling facility, catering for OTR tyres as well as commercial and passenger tyres.

“Our partnership with Alcoa marks our first contracted agreement with a South West mining operator to recycle OTR tyres,” Jim said. “Tyrecycle’s goal is to deliver sustainable outcomes for our clients, where waste is a resource, not a problem. We are proud to have established this state-of-the-art facility in the Rockingham region with strong support from government and industry.”

Nicole added that Alcoa was investigating recycling solutions for other rubber products, including end-of-life conveyor belts. Her team is also exploring opportunities to use the Tyrecycle-generated rubber crumb in roadwork around Alcoa’s facilities.

“Doing so would represent a great outcome with our own tyres being recycled into rubber crumb and repurposed within our own operations,” she said.