How Tyres Are Recycled in Australia and What They Become
Every year roughly 537,000 tonnes of tyres reach the end of their life in Australia. Thanks in part to the 2021 ban on exporting whole baled waste tyres, more of them are now processed at home. This guide explains how recycling actually works, what the rubber becomes, and the honest state of “circularity” — with background from Tyre Stewardship Australia — then links to the stewardship scheme and where to dispose of old tyres.
How does the tyre recycling process work?
Once collected, a used tyre goes through a fairly standard sequence:
- Collection and sorting: Accredited collectors gather tyres from retailers and separate them by type and condition. Directories such as Planet Ark’s Recycling Near You list collectors and the products tyres become.
- Shredding: Tyres are cut into chips, then shredded further.
- Separation: Powerful magnets pull out the steel belt wire, and screens remove textile fibre, leaving clean rubber.
- Granulating and crumbing: The rubber is ground into granules and fine crumb rubber — the key feedstock for most recycled-tyre products.
Australia’s domestic granulating and crumbing capacity is limited — around 86,250 tonnes a year — which is one reason so much tyre rubber is still burned for energy rather than turned into new products.
What do recycled tyres actually become?
Recovered tyre material ends up in a surprising range of products:
| Product | What it is used for |
|---|---|
| Crumb rubber in asphalt | Quieter, more durable “crumb rubber modified” roads |
| Soft-fall surfaces | Playgrounds, running tracks and sports surfaces |
| Civil engineering fill | Lightweight embankment and drainage material |
| Rubber mats and flooring | Gym floors, stable mats, industrial matting |
| Recovered steel | Melted down and reused as scrap steel |
| Tyre-derived fuel (TDF) | Energy for cement kilns and industrial boilers |
Crumb-rubber modified asphalt is one of the most promising uses, taking a genuine waste stream and improving road performance at the same time.
What is tyre-derived fuel, and is it really recycling?
Tyre-derived fuel means burning processed tyres as a substitute for coal or gas, mainly in cement kilns. It counts as energy recovery rather than recycling, because the material is consumed rather than remade. Around half of recovered passenger, truck and bus tyres go to fuel — for passenger tyres specifically, over three-quarters of recovered units are used this way. It keeps tyres out of landfill, but it is not the same as turning them back into useful materials.
How much is really recycled versus just recovered?
This is where the headline numbers can mislead. Of the roughly 537,000 tonnes reaching end of life in a recent year, over 353,000 tonnes (about 66%) were “recovered” — but only around 26% of that recovered volume was genuinely recycled or reused into new products. The rest was mostly energy recovery. The true recycling rate has climbed from about 11% to 17% over five years, which is progress, but Australia still falls short of a circular economy. Mining tyres are the weakest link: under 5% are recovered, with more than 109,000 tonnes buried on mine sites.
Why did the whole-baled export ban matter?
From 1 December 2021, Australia banned the export of whole baled waste tyres under national waste-export laws. Previously, large volumes were shipped overseas as bales with little control over where they ended up. Tyres can still be exported if they are processed into crumb, granules, shred or tyre-derived fuel, or sent to verified retreading facilities. The ban was designed to force more processing onshore and build local recycling capacity. See are eco tyres actually better? and tyre microplastics for the wider environmental picture.
What stops Australia recycling more of its tyres?
Three bottlenecks hold the recycling rate back. First, domestic processing capacity is limited — local crumbing and granulating plants can only handle around 86,250 tonnes a year, far less than the volume generated. Second, demand for recycled-rubber products is still growing; crumb rubber only has value if roads authorities, builders and manufacturers actually specify it. Third, mining tyres are enormous, remote and expensive to move, so more than 109,000 tonnes a year are simply buried on site. Lifting the genuine recycling rate means building more processing plants and creating steady markets — part of the reason the stewardship scheme funds demand for recycled products, and why buying eco tyres and understanding a tyre label matter at the consumer end. The recycling fee you pay also helps — see the tyre disposal levy.
Frequently asked questions
Can tyres be recycled into new tyres?
Only to a very limited degree. A small proportion of recycled rubber can be added to some new products, but a used tyre cannot simply be remade into a new one — the vulcanised rubber cannot be reversed economically at scale.
What happens to the steel and fibre in a tyre?
The steel belt wire is recovered with magnets and recycled as scrap steel. The textile fibre is separated out and can be used in some applications or sent for energy recovery.
Is burning tyres for fuel bad for the environment?
Modern cement kilns burn tyre-derived fuel under controlled, high-temperature conditions, which is far better than dumping or an uncontrolled tyre fire. However, it is energy recovery, not recycling, so it does not create a circular material loop.
Does paying the recycling fee guarantee my tyre is recycled?
It pays for responsible collection and processing, but a large share still goes to energy recovery rather than being remade into products. Choosing accredited retailers improves the odds it is handled properly.
Are airless and “eco” tyres easier to recycle?
Not necessarily — most emerging designs still mix rubber with other materials. The bigger environmental gains for now come from longer tyre life and recycled-content products, not from radically new tyre types. See puncture-proof and airless tyres.
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