{"id":153807,"date":"2025-09-13T12:04:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T12:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/153807\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T12:04:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T12:04:18","slug":"recyclers-call-for-end-to-30000-tonnes-of-mining-tyres-being-buried-every-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/153807\/","title":{"rendered":"Recyclers call for end to 30,000 tonnes of mining tyres being buried every year"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new facility in the heart of Western Australia’s iron ore mining industry has come up with a simple solution to the environmental disaster of oversized tyre waste.<\/p>\n

Tyres are critical assets on mine sites.<\/p>\n

Some of them are so huge they weigh more than an entire 4WD vehicle and cost up to $60,000 each.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tyres are a critical, expensive asset on mine sites. (ABC News: Michelle Stanley)<\/p>\n

Their scale makes recycling difficult and costly, with almost 95 per cent of mining tyres eventually buried in the ground. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The practice of burying old mining tyres is not against national environmental regulation.<\/p>\n

There are hopes that changes to environmental regulations across the country will pressure miners to recycle more.<\/p>\n

A simple solution<\/p>\n

Almost half, 49 per cent, of all mining tyres in Australia are in Western Australia’s Pilbara, according to a report by Tyre Stewardship Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pilbara is ranked as the largest mining precinct in the country in terms of earth displacement, meaning companies rely on open-cut mining vehicles.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Port Hedland recycling facility is the first of its kind. (ABC Pilbara: Kimberley Putland)<\/p>\n

That was why Tyrecycle opened the first dedicated off-road mining tyre recycling facility in Port Hedland, 1,630 kilometres north of Perth, at the heart of the region.<\/p>\n

Old, worn-out mining tyres are sent to the facility where they are processed using a specialist “T-rex” machine imported from Italy.<\/p>\n

\"big<\/p>\n

The tyres are broken down into smaller chunks of rubber. (ABC Pilbara: Georgia Hargreaves)<\/p>\n

The smaller chunks of rubber are sent to Perth for further processing, eventually given a second life as things like road base, playgrounds or surfaces of athletics tracks.<\/p>\n

Tyrecycle’s head of mining, trading and strategic development, Ashley Battilana, said it was challenging to dispose of mining tyres because of their weight and size.<\/p>\n

\"Ashley<\/p>\n

Ashley Battilana hopes mining companies will recycle more tyres. (ABC Pilbara: Kimberley Putland)<\/p>\n

“Up until now most mining tyres are being buried on site in pit burial methods, which is completely legal,” she said.<\/p>\n

“They’re completely licensed to do it.<\/p>\n

“But now with this new facility, the option is there and we’re here to support the mining companies on this journey.”<\/p>\n

\"conveyer<\/p>\n

Worn conveyer belts made from rubber are difficult to recycle because they are long and heavy. (ABC Pilbara: Kimberley Putland)<\/p>\n

The facility, which has been open since the end of 2024, has prevented 1,500 tonnes from being buried.<\/p>\n

Mr Battilana said with a growing interest from miners in the region, there was plenty of room for expansion.<\/p>\n

“What we would like to have over the next three years is putting in another plant here so we can double our capacity,” he said.<\/p>\n

Burying tyres ‘no longer good enough’<\/p>\n

There have been limited alternatives for tyre disposal which made economic sense for businesses.<\/p>\n

Tyre Stewardship Australia, a group that promotes the development of markets for used tyres, released a report that found less than 5 per cent of old mining tyres in Australia were recycled.<\/p>\n

It said more than 100,000 tonnes of mining tyre waste was buried<\/a> in the ground each year.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Lina Goodman says there should be fewer tyres buried in Australia. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

CEO Lina Goodman said burying mining tyres was “no longer good enough”.<\/p>\n

“The frustrating part around mining tyres being buried in a pit \u2014 it’s out of sight, out of mind,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got infrastructure and recyclers who have invested to meet the needs to create products and it’s just not being met by the other parties.”<\/p>\n

Ms Goodman said federal government intervention was needed to encourage the industry to adopt alternatives.<\/p>\n

“Governments need to change their permissions for mining companies and remove it so that [tyres] are no longer allowed to be buried,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"Graph<\/p>\n

The oversized tyres (in tonnes) generated in each region annually by mining and agriculture. (Supplied: Tyre Stewardship Australia)<\/p>\n

A Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water spokesperson said it supported the Port Hedland facility through its Recycling Modernisation Fund.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson said the government would continue to work with states and territories on effective options to improve tyre recycling rates.<\/p>\n

Environment Minister Murray Watt’s office said the government was committed to doubling its circularity for end-of-life tyres by 2035.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new facility in the heart of Western Australia’s iron ore mining industry has come up with a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,94394,84061,94392,94390,94396,94389,94393,94395,79,94391,68438],"class_list":{"0":"post-153807","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-environment-mining","10":"tag-iron-ore","11":"tag-landfill","12":"tag-mining-tyres","13":"tag-mining-waste","14":"tag-recycling-facility","15":"tag-reducing-waste","16":"tag-rubber-waste","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-tyre-waste","19":"tag-zero-waste"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}