Old tyres will increasingly be used to create colourful playground surfaces and footpaths instead of landfill after the State Government announced it would phase out the dumping of loose tyres and significantly boost recycling. Environment and Climate Change Minister David Templeman today announced a total ban on the dumping of used tyres into landfill in the Perth metropolitan area and the larger regional centres by 2011.
(PressZoom) - Old tyres will increasingly be used to create colourful playground surfaces and footpaths instead of landfill after the State Government announced it would phase out the dumping of loose tyres and significantly boost recycling.
Environment and Climate Change Minister David Templeman today announced a total ban on the dumping of used tyres into landfill in the Perth metropolitan area and the larger regional centres by 2011.
“About two million tyres are disposed of in Western Australia each year, contributing about 25,000 tonnes to landfills annually,” Mr Templeman said.
"To give some idea of the enormity of this problem, if you stacked all of those tyres on top of each other they would form a tyre tower reaching about 400km into the sky.
"This ban will eliminate the majority of tyres going into landfill and allow this valuable resource to be converted into crumb rubber for 'soft-fall' playground surfaces, golf walkways, synthetic turf, horse walkways, 'traffic calming' products such as speed humps, bitumen additives for road paving and other useful products.”
The Minister said used tyres posed a significant recycling challenge because of steel and nylon belts embedded in the rubber.
"It is imperative that we recycle tyres so the precious energy that goes into making tyres is not lost forever by simply burying them in the ground,” he said.
"Wasting any product - including rubber - represents unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions and we need to be innovative in how we extend the life of products such as tyres.
"The Carpenter Government is acting now for the future to ensure we address this perennial problem."
Mr Templeman said that in the past used tyres had been used to create false reefs and play equipment and, on a much smaller scale, even fashioned into garden ornaments.
“The best method to manage and dispose of tyre waste has been the subject of much discussion and consultation with stakeholders, including the tyre and recycling industries,” he said.
A two-stage strategy would progressively phase out landfill disposal in selected areas of the State.
From January next year all loose tyres generated within a defined zone that had not been recycled must be compacted into tight bales and buried in dedicated landfill cells.
The Minister said the bales would take up much less space than loose tyres and would be placed in dedicated landfill sites allowing for retrieval and recycling at a later time.
Then from January 2011, the second phase would come into effect and prohibit landfill disposal of all used tyres in the metropolitan area and some regional centres. Only some remote rural areas without access to transport routes or recycling facilities would be permitted to put baled tyres into landfill after this date.
Mr Templeman said he was confident the tyre recycling industry would be keen to take up the challenge of increasing tyre recycling within WA.
"It's quite incredible that they can take a worn-out old black tyre and create colourful surfaces for playgrounds or walking paths for horses, which I am told they love. And the market for these types of products is huge," he said.
Waste Management Board Chair Barry Carbon said he was sure the community would also support the move.
"This is a positive step towards making used tyres a profitable commodity rather than a left-over to be dumped," Mr Carbon said.
Minister's office - 9220 5050
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