Crumb rubber has moved from trial application to an established material in Australian road construction.
Technical specifications for crumb rubber modified bitumen and asphalt are now in place across mainland states, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, supported by the national Austroads specification ATS 3110.
This provides the tyre recycling sector with something it has long needed: a recognised domestic market for recovered rubber. However, Australia still faces a significant gap between the tyres being generated and the infrastructure available to convert them into high-value materials.
Not all tyre streams are equal
Tyres contain similar materials, but their composition varies according to application. Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA) reports that natural rubber accounts for approximately 18.4 per cent of a passenger tyre and 33.2 per cent of a truck tyre.
Truck tyres require more natural rubber because it generates less heat build-up in thicker tread sections. This composition also makes truck tyre rubber particularly suitable for higher-value recovery applications. Crumb produced from truck tyres is already an established feedstock for crumb rubber modified sprayed seals and asphalt in Australia.
Off-the-road (OTR) tyres used in mining and agriculture may offer similar resource potential. However, TSA has identified OTR tyre composition as an area requiring further research. OTR-derived crumb should therefore not be treated as interchangeable with proven truck-tyre crumb until its performance against road specifications is established.
Recovery remains uneven
Australia generated 537,000 tonnes of used tyres in 2023–24. While 66 per cent were recovered, only 26 per cent achieved circular outcomes through reuse or recycling.
Recovery rates also vary considerably between tyre streams. Passenger, truck and bus tyres achieved an overall recovery rate of 87 per cent, while OTR tyre recovery remained at 13 per cent. For mining tyres alone, the rate was below 5 per cent, with an estimated 109,300 tonnes buried onsite.
A more recent regulatory review commissioned by the Australian Tyre Recyclers Association estimated mining tyre recovery at approximately 2 per cent.
These figures reveal a substantial untapped resource. Mining tyres contain recoverable rubber and steel, yet their size, weight and location make conventional collection and processing difficult.
The infrastructure gap
Australia has approximately 86,250 tonnes of annual granulating and crumbing capacity. This is limited compared with the volume of tyres generated, particularly when 40 per cent of used tyres currently enter energy recovery pathways, largely as shredded material exported for use as fuel.
Expanding domestic recycling requires investment at two points in the processing chain.
The first is primary size reduction. Steel bead bundles can damage or accelerate wear in conventional shredders, making debeading an important pre-processing stage. Purpose-designed systems can instead process whole truck tyres or remove the beads before shredding, improving throughput and protecting downstream equipment.
The second challenge is transport. Moving whole mining tyres over long distances is rarely economical because their physical volume is high relative to the recoverable material being transported. Reducing tyre size at or near the mine site changes that equation.
Mobile or regional systems incorporating debeading, splitting and shearing equipment that reduce mining tyres to transportable sections before they are moved to a central processing facility. Establishing the right tyre recycling systems at the source can therefore be as important as expanding metropolitan crumbing capacity.
From recovery to circular value
TSA estimates that improving OTR recovery could unlock tens of thousands of tonnes of rubber and steel currently lost through burial and stockpiling. However, equipment investment alone will not close the gap.
Australia also needs procurement settings that support recycled materials, consistent specifications for tyre-derived products and regulatory frameworks that favour recovery over on-site disposal.
The road market has demonstrated that a viable domestic use for tyre-derived crumb exists. The next step is to connect that demand with the tyre streams that remain difficult to recover.
The technology to downsize and process these tyres is commercially available. The challenge is deploying it in the right locations, at the scale required, and within a policy environment that makes resource recovery more attractive than burial or export.
Sources
- TSA, Are We There Yet? Material Flow Analysis Report 2023–24 (w/ Blue Environment), 30 Jun 2025.
- TSA, Australian Tyre Consumption and Recovery 2023–24 fact sheet, TSA0385 v1.2, Jan 2025.
- TSA media release, High Recovery Rates Mask Australia’s Tyre Recycling Circularity Failure, 30 Jun 2025.
- TSA, Tipping the Balance: OTR Tyres, Conveyors and Tracks, Research Report v1.1, 30 Jun 2023. Tables 7, 15–16, App. 2.
- TSA, Benefits of Surfacing Roads with Tyre Derived Crumb Rubber, 2nd Report, Sep 2024. §3.1, §6, §7.1 (cites Hoffmann & Potgieter 2007).
- TSA, Strategy 2025–2028, Jul 2025.
- ATRA / Urban EP, Review of Regulatory and Licence Requirements — Waste Mining Tyres (WA, NSW, QLD), via Waste Management Review.
- US Tire Manufacturers Association, What’s In A Tire.
- Austroads ATS 3110, Supply of Modified Binders (per TSA ref. 5).
- Waste Initiatives, Tyre Recycling Systems.
- Waste Initiatives, Tyre Debeaders (Eagle International OTR debeader/downsizing specs).
Editorial note: This article and its content were produced by a sponsor.
