Tyres from cars and bikes should never be put in your household recycling bin. They can be recycled, but only when dropped off at designated collection points or through an accredited Tyre Stewardship Australia mechanic, retailer, or dealership when you’re having your old tyres replaced with new ones.

How to recycle spare tyres

Recycling when changing tyres

When changing the tyres on your vehicle, to ensure the old ones are managed responsibly, you need to make sure your mechanic, retailer or dealership is accredited through Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA).

Why recycle?

Each year in Australia the equivalent of 67 million passenger tyres reach their end of life. Putting old tyres in landfill is unsustainable, so we must find new ways to reuse, repurpose, and recycle the materials.

While most tyre retailers are doing the right thing, 20% of old automotive tyres are dumped, buried, stockpiled, sent to landfill, or hidden in warehouses, on industrial sites, unsuspecting landowners' properties, and even national parks. Dumping used tyres illegally or in landfill is a waste of resources. Tyres must be managed responsibly, as they are a highly flammable material that can pose a risk to the community and surrounding environment.

By recycling your tyres through TSA accredited businesses, you can help support more sustainable outcomes, through:

• Recovery of valuable materials like rubber and steel,
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by lessening the demand for new resources,
• Reducing risks of illegal dumping and stockpiling,
• Supporting the creation of new products made from tyre-derived material, and
• Contributing to a circular economy.

Source: Tyre Stewardship Australia.

What happens to them?

Used tyres have proven to be a valuable resource through reuse, recycling, and waste-to-energy solutions. They can be recycled in multiple ways including shredding the tyres into smaller pieces of shred or crumb. The recovered materials can then be used in new products, providing flexible, durable, or noise-reducing qualities.

When you choose a TSA accredited tyre retailer, mechanic, or dealership, the tyres will be collected by a trusted and accredited tyre collector/recycler.

Recycled tyres are used in a range of innovative applications. Once processed, they can be transformed into:

• Crumb rubber used in roads, pavement, and civil engineering,
• Soft fall playgrounds and sports surfaces,
• Acoustic panels, insulation and construction products, and
• Tile adhesives, rubber mats, industrial flooring, and much more.

Image of new roads paved with road base containing tyres in Logan city Council. Image credit: Tyre Stewardship Australia.

Tyre Stewardship Australia