CURRENT METHODS OF TYRE DISPOSAL
Tyre disposal is a political and social hot-button. There are many objections to the industry as a whole as there is no cost effective or environmentally friendly method for tyre disposal. The cheapest, most frequently used form of tyre disposal is the commitment of tyres to landfill.
Landfill
Approximately 12,800,000 tyres were committed to landfill in 2006. This is up from 10,260,000 committed to landfill in 2001.
In that timeframe approximately 62,000,000 tyres will have been committed to landfill in Australia. Each one of those tyres was considered to be worthless, or worse still, expensive to dump. With a perceived market value of less than $0, why would there be a commitment to clean up?
Illegal Dumping
As there is a cost involved with dumping tyres at landfill, many people choose to illegally dump their tyres as there is no economic motivation to dispose of tyres for individuals or for business.
In 2006, it is thought that approximately 2,800,000 tyres were illegally dumped in Australia. This is a shocking figure that is on the rise.
Tyre Recycling
Converting tyres to granular forms such as tyre crumb was the only form of tyre recycling available. After treatment, high quality rubber crumbs are ready to be reused in a large range of areas such as:
- Playground Surfaces
- Sporting Surfaces
- Road Surfacing
- New Tyres
- Landscape
- Mulch
- Paints
- Carpet
- Underlay
- Shoe Soles
However, this is unsustainable as it gives the recycled product a low end value given the cost of the current recycling process.
Other
Other ways of disposing of tyres such as export to overseas or burning for energy recovery are not viable ways forward as they ethically contravene the standards Federal and State Government are trying to meet.
Current Methods of Tyre Disposal