Australia's retread sector must be recognised as a circular economy priority

Around the world, good people are grappling with the issue of waste tyres and how to advance the sustainable benefits of retreading. Among those is Lina Goodman, CEO of Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA). Australia’s tyre retreading sector is at a critical juncture, according to a recent report published by TSA, which caught our attention for its detail and comprehensive approach published in January 2026. The report presents retreading as a core circular economy activity with clear economic, environmental, and manufacturing benefits, but one increasingly undermined by lower-quality, single-use imported tyres. This challenge comes against a backdrop of a sharp decline in retreading capacity. 

The Tire Cologne, with key players in the retreading and recycling sector gathered, presented us with an opportunity to sit down with Goodman to better understand her approach and advocacy for retreading as part of a wider circular economy initiative. We also wanted to explore how it’s shaping Australia’s approach to retreading, while exploring how her work is now being noticed and scrutinised by the wider retreading industry across the globe. 

According to Goodman, the initial decision to examine retreading was directly linked to TSA’s wider work on end-of-life tyres and material circularity. “You could argue that a retread tyre actually hasn't reached the end of life yet. But when we did our report, it was very clear that tyre avoidance, repair, and retreading are at the top of circularity. So, it would be remiss of us not to truly understand retreading, particularly in Australia, because we need to focus on preventing that tyre from reaching the end of its life in the first place.