Tyrecycle, Australia’s oldest, largest and only national collector and recycler of tyres, has opened a purpose-built facility in Port Hedland to enable end-of-life mining tyres in the region to be recycled instead of buried.
Producing sustainable products out of tyre waste has a substantial social, environmental and carbon upside, which allows Tyrecycle’s customers to report the ESG benefits, as opposed to landfilling tyres or storing them in-pit.
The company recently expanded its service offering for mining companies to recycle conveyor belts, including at its East Rockingham plant and new Port Hedland facility.
The Port Hedland facility can process over 30,000 tonnes of OTR mining tyres annually, providing an efficient mine-to-processing service and enhancing sustainability credentials for operators in one of the world’s busiest mining regions.
Jim Fairweather, Chief Executive Officer at Tyrecycle, said opening the facility in such a busy mining area would make it easier than ever to deliver sustainable outcomes for end-of-life mining tyres and conveyor belts.
He said: “As a market leader, we are proud to see this first facility of its kind in the country up and running, revolutionising OTR mining tyre recycling will ensure that these massive tyres are no longer seen as a disposal challenge but instead a resource for the achievement of better sustainable outcomes.
“Transporting end-of-life OTR mining tyres can be a challenge, which is why we needed to base this new facility as close to the source of the waste as we can.
“It’s been a five-year journey to get to this point, which is a great step forward for Port Hedland, the biggest export terminal in the world.”
Alongside its work with the mining industry recycling end-of-life tyres, Tyrecycle can now tackle another once-problematic waste stream, mining conveyor belts, providing further sustainable outcomes for mining companies.
Ashley Battilana, Head of Trading, Mining & Strategic Development at Tyrecycle, said it was exciting to provide efficient pathways for the sustainable management of conveyor belts from Australia’s mining industry.
Battilana said: “Our team has worked closely with the mining industry to develop a pathway to efficiently and sustainably manage their end-of-life conveyor belts.
“When you consider the sheer amount of conveyor belts mining companies go through, it makes sense to collaborate on developing sustainable options for disposal.”
Battilana emphasised the mining industry’s willingness to work with Tyrecycle in driving the push for more sustainable outcomes for conveyor belt waste.
He said: “They know that responsible management of conveyor belt waste, like their end-of-life tyres, is an important part of best practice operations.
“The mining sector has been eager for a solution to the management of this waste stream, and Tyrecycle is providing them that solution.”
OTR mining tyres and conveyor belts will be pre-processed at the Port Hedland facility before being sent to Tyrecycle’s facility in East Rockingham, south of Perth.
The East Rockingham site is Australia’s largest and most versatile tyre recycling operation, where mining tyres and conveyors are processed into a wide range of products, including crumb rubber used in road development.
The crumb rubber produced is consumed domestically, predominantly used for roads and soft fall playground surfaces. However, the road market in Australia, while growing, is underdeveloped compared to other overseas markets such as South Africa and the United States.
Fairweather credited the mining industry for its willingness to work with Tyrecycle in driving the charge for more sustainable outcomes for its end-of-life OTR tyres.
He said: “Unlike passenger, bus and truck tyres, which are collected at almost 100 per cent, mining tyres are collected at only 1 per cent.
“They know that responsible management of end-of-life tyres is an important part of best practice operations, and this new facility means burying these tyres in pit will soon be a thing of the past.
“The outcomes our new plant provides are outstanding – we’ll be able to demonstrate significant traceability and chain of custody confidence, along with carbon benefits to our customers as a result of partnering with us for the sustainable management of their tyres and conveyor belts.”
Fairweather added that the new facility would address a significant gap in Australia’s capability of recycling mining tyres.
He said: “Unlike passenger, bus and truck tyres, which are recovered at a rate of 87 per cent, mining tyres are recovered at less than 5 per cent.
