End-of-life tyres are a critical environmental issue. New Zealanders throw away 4.2 million tyres every year, but there is now an end-to-end solution available within New Zealand for the collection, processing and use of our old tyres.
Waste Management is proud to be tackling the problem head-on at our state-of-the-art tyre recycling facility in Wiri, Auckland, which is now successfully recycling 1.2 million old tyres a year. We are turning one of our countries most problematic environmental challenges into an important energy source for local use.
Our team collects all types of passenger car, 4WD and truck tyres, and transports these to Wiri, where they are processed into tyre chips for use as high-quality tyre derived fuel (TDF).
TDF is then supplied to Golden Bay Cement where the rubber component offsets the use of coal as fuel, and the steel in the tyre substitutes virgin iron sand material added in the cement making process.
Golden Bay’s aspiration is to completely replace the need for coal in their cement process and TDF from Waste Management is a key part of them achieving that goal.
This will significantly reduce carbon emissions, with a 600kg eCO2 reduction for every tonne of coal substituted with TDF.
It means one of our biggest environmental challenges now has a domestic solution available.
Our tyre recycling capabilities also mean we are playing a critical role in preventing:
- Illegally dumped tyres which contaminate waterways
- Landfill waste by recycling tyres
- Growing stockpiles of tyres/ fire hazards
A recent example of how the team has prevented dangerous stockpiling is illustrated by the pictures below. A tyre collector had illegally stored 350 tonnes of tyres in a South Auckland warehouse, leaving a liability for the property owner. Our team were able to successfully clean-up the stockpile and send the tyres off to be recycled.
We are currently collecting tyres from across the North Island, with some tyres also shipped up to Auckland from the South Island.
We are proud to help drive New Zealand’s circular economy and carbon-positive future.
If you’re interested in Waste Management collecting your end-of-life tyres please contact Sales and Operations Manager – Tyre Recycling Amir Raad on 021 363 554.