Fenner Conveyors, in partnership with Tyrecycle, has completed a first-of-its-kind conveyor belt recycling initiative for Gladstone Ports Corporation (GPC), demonstrating a workable circular economy model for Australia’s bulk materials handling sector.
Fenner coordinated the recovery and recycling pathway for decommissioned conveyor belts from the Port of Gladstone, where GPC operates 65 conveyor systems and more than 48 kilometres of installed conveyor belting.
The scale of that infrastructure has made end-of-life belt disposal a persistent challenge for the port operator, one that industry has long sought a sustainable answer to.
Through Fenner’s circular belting solution, end-of-life conveyor belts are diverted from landfill, transported to Tyrecycle’s Brisbane facility for processing, and repurposed into new rubber products rather than sent to waste.
The approach gives operators a genuine alternative to landfill disposal while feeding recovered material back into local manufacturing supply chains.
In June, six conveyor belts totalling 122 tonnes were removed from the Port of Gladstone and returned to Tyrecycle’s Brisbane facility before being sent on to Tyrecycle Somerton for further processing into feedstock for local use.
Independent analysis commissioned by Tyrecycle estimated that recycling these belts saved more than 190 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, underscoring the environmental case for scaling the program to other sites.
Fenner Conveyors Sales and Marketing Executive General Manager Trevor Svenson said the project illustrated how industry could convert conveyor belt waste into a local circular economy opportunity.
He said GPC’s involvement marked an important step in proving the model could work at scale for major industrial sites, and that Fenner was proud to help deliver a solution that was practical, efficient and genuinely circular.
“Every organisation that begins recycling its belts is contributing to a growing circular economy, supporting local manufacturing, creating jobs and reducing waste,” said Svenson.
The recovered material also supports the development of Fenner’s InfinitySeries conveyor belting, which incorporates recycled rubber materials, including reclaimed conveyor belts, into new belt construction.
That link between recovery and remanufacturing is central to Fenner’s pitch to industrial customers: waste material does not simply disappear; it is engineered back into the products those same customers will eventually install.
A GPC spokesperson said the initiative provided a long-sought recycling pathway for used conveyor belts, noting that the organisation’s teams had been looking for a solution.
“Our teams have been working through options for some time, so to have a genuine, data-backed recycling solution is a great step forward,” said the spokesperson.
Tyrecycle Head of Trading, Mining and Strategic Development Ashley Battilana said the project proved the Fenner-Tyrecycle circular belting solution worked in practice, not just on paper.
He pointed to the logistics model behind the program as a key factor in its success, noting it removed unnecessary handling steps and compressed the recycling timeline significantly.
“The one-in, one-out logistics model removed double handling, reduced supply chain costs and enabled recycling to be completed in Australia within three days of the belt being removed from service,” said Battilana.
That turnaround time, combined with the onshore processing chain from Gladstone to Brisbane to Somerton, positions the program as a template other Australian ports and industrial operators could adopt without significant additional infrastructure.
Fenner Conveyors said it remains committed to expanding belt recycling efforts nationwide and to partnering with customers to embed circular economy principles into everyday operations.
With GPC’s program now serving as a proof point, the company is expected to pursue similar partnerships with other bulk materials handling operators across the country as demand grows for verifiable, data-backed sustainability outcomes in heavy industry.
