Friday 21 August 1998

Used tyres will be accepted for disposal at the Council Refuse Stations and the Burwood Landfill. A charge of $2.00 per tyre will be made to cover shredding and disposal costs. Whole tyres are unable to be landfilled as they cannot be properly compacted, also trap gas generated in the landfill, and float to the surface of the landfill.

Following a meeting in April this year, representatives from the tyre retailers, manufacturers, importers and recyclers together with the Recovered Materials Foundation and Council staff, established the Industry Waste Tyre Committee to work through the issues of waste tyre disposal.

While some rubber is being recycled, current options for recycling of tyres are limited and further investigations are being carried out to find a long-term sustainable use for tyre wastes. Among the options being investigated are the recovery of rubber chip for use in the production of rubber matting and other products, the use of tyre wastes as a fuel source and the use of shredded tyres as a drainage material or lightweight fill in earthworks.

For at least the immediate future landfilling of tyre wastes is the only practical method of dealing with the majority of tyre wastes. By shredding the tyres the tyre waste can be usefully used as part of the daily landfill operations in the form of daily cover material and site road construction.

In order to give private businesses confidence to invest in a tyre shredder and to develop long term options for recycling tyre wastes, the Industry Waste Tyre Committee recommended the Council charged a disposal fee for whole tyres. The recommended charge, which the Council has now approved, was $2.00 (incl GST) per tyre and would apply at the Council refuse stations and Burwood Landfill. This fee will cover the cost of shredding, transport and disposal of the tyres.

The Industry Waste Tyre Committee has advised retailers to pass this cost on to customers to ensure that tyres are disposed of in a safe and environmentally acceptable manner.

Dave Harris 9418-272

Solid Waste

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