Dugald River Mine is tackling how to recycle End-of-Life (EOL) tyres, with a solution to the age-old problem of sending re-usable materials to landfill. The mine annually generates about 920 EOL tyres from vehicles and trucks.

Currently Australia disposes of over 60,000 tonnes of EOL tyres by exporting them. Some 100,000 tonnes are stockpiled in landfill or onsite (mostly by the mining and agricultural sectors) according to global advisory firm, Energy Estate.

With the Council of Australian Governments’ agreed ban on used tyre exportation from December 2021, Australia faces a growing tyre stockpile problem.

Dugald River and its mining contractor Barminco have investigated alternative tyre disposal, supporting a joint venture (REVYRE) program with Energy Estate and InfraCo. A proposed recycling process breaks down and repurposes the tyres into a high value polymer product fit for tyre manufacturing and clean high tensile scrap steel.

The recycling process is chemical and solvent free with near zero waste and emissions or by-products making it an environmentally friendly technology. REVYRE is also looking at renewable energy for its  operations. This aligns with its low carbon footprint aspiration while reducing the environmental impact of tyre production. Barminco and MMG are proud to support this responsible initiative. A number of REVYRE plants are planned for each Australian mainland state supporting new jobs made possible from the development, construction and operation of the sites. The new plants have the potential to further reduce the carbon footprint burden that came with EOL tyres being previously recycled in Victoria.

The Dugald River team has encountered some challenges with on-site EOL tyre storage as it complies with environmental authority requirements. However, the team is committed to the smart recycling project and is also looking to reduce other waste streams such as single use plastics.