Australia’s government has included tyres in the list of products that industry must ensure are handled and ultimately disposed of in an environmentally appropriate manner. Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek added tyres to the Minister’s product stewardship priority list for 2022–23. This list was published on 8 November.
The Tasmanian government is offering industry partners up to AU$3 million for the development of rubber crumbing plants or alternative and sustainable solutions for the recovery of end-of-life tyres. Australia’s island state is offering this support under its recently launched Waste Tyre Reprocessing Grant Program.
Bridgestone has celebrated the diamond anniversary of the very first Bandag operation to join the group. Today Australia’s sole producer of pre-cured retread materials, Bandag, has marked 60 years of local manufacturing, a milestone that Heath Barclay, managing director of Bridgestone Australia & New Zealand, says is “significant for any business, let alone a manufacturing business.”
Last Friday, CTS Tyre Recycling broke ground on the first-ever tyre recycling facility in Western Australia. Construction work will begin in the coming weeks, and when the AU$7 million (£4.1 million) plant enters service, it will have a capacity to process around 30,000 tonnes of end-of-life tyres a year with the possibility of doubling this at a later date. The facility’s aim is to help Western Australia manage the impact of Australia’s recently-introduced ban on waste tyre exports.
Engineers from Australia’s RMIT University have managed to replace 100 per cent of conventional aggregates in concrete – such as gravel and crushed rock – with rubber from discarded tyres to create a product that meets building codes. The team behind the project says that in addition to contributing to the circular economy, the new greener and lighter concrete also promises to reduce manufacturing and transportation costs significantly.
BKT Tyres, as well as Australian businesses Tradefaire International and Macmahon, have developed chain-ready underground mining tyres in what the three companies describe as a world first. The new OTR tyres will be launched in September 2022.
Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA) has launched ‘Circular Economy Collaborator’, a programme that supports its vision of circularity for end-of-life tyres as well as government policy such as the ReMade in Australia recycling campaign. The programme’s introduction follows the outlawing of whole used tyre exports from 1 December 2021.
Magna Tyres Group is acquiring Australian-based Fennell Tyres International. Fennell Tyres International is known for its competitively priced, quality OTR, mining and TBR tyre solutions. Financial details have not been disclosed. According to the company, “Magna Tyres recognizes the demand for high quality off the road tyres in Australia and the value of a long-term relationship with customers”. The firm’s goal is to strengthen its position worldwide.
Australian waste tyre processor Pearl Global Limited, a firm claiming to possess a proprietary technology superior to traditional pyrolysis, has appointed a new chief executive officer. David Wheeley will commence in this capacity on 1 February 2022.
Australia’s government has launched ReMade in Australia, a new national effort to encourage industry to transform recycled waste into productive outcomes. Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA) has expressed its strong agreement with the campaign.
Otraco International is now part of Bridgestone Mining Solutions Australia. Bridgestone Corporation reports that after gaining regulatory approvals and satisfying other customary conditions, yesterday it completed the acquisition deal first announced in April. The OTR tyre management firm changed hands for AU$79 million (£42.4 million).
The Tyre Recovery Association (TRA) has spoken out to endorse the move Australian government’s move to prohibit the export of most unprocessed end-of-life tyres from December 2021. The only exception will be casings suitable for retreading or validated reuse. In addition, Peter Taylor, secretary general of the TRA urged DEFRA Secretary of state George Eustice MP to closely study this change in Australian law and consider whether the UK should follow a similar path:
Australian tyre wholesaler National Tyre & Wheel Limited (NTAW) has signed the necessary paperwork for its acquisition of Black Rubber Pty Ltd and Black Rubber Sydney Pty Limited. The transaction, which took place yesterday and is valued at AU$26.3 million (£14.5 million), brings Black Rubber’s import and retreading businesses into the NTAW fold.
From 1 December 2021, new laws in Australia will extend a ban on waste exports out of the country to tyres. It follows a cessation of unprocessed waste glass and mixed plastic exports earlier in the year. Reporting this measure, Tyre Stewardship Australia says the change is part of a broader commitment by the Australian Government to reduce waste, increase recycling rates and build capacity in Australia’s recycling industry.
Tradefaire
Magna Tyres