Supply Chain: Opportunities to Grow Australia’s Circular Economy for Tyres - Report

Australia generates approximately 537,000 tonnes of end-of-life tyres each year, yet only ~26% are reused or recycled. Around 40% are used in energy recovery applications, and ~30% are landfilled. 

This report sets out what’s constraining true circularity progress — and what it will take to shift the system from fragmented effort to measurable national impact.

Key findings

The report identifies core issues across the tyre supply chain, with six rated as “Very High” constraints on circularity:

1. Free-riding importers — 47% of replacement and 99% of fitted tyre imports avoid the Scheme levy, gaining an unfair financial advantage
2. Rogue collectors — unaccredited operators undercut legitimate collections, leading to illegal dumping with significant community, environmental, and financial impacts
3. On-site burial at mines — 100,000 tonnes of mining tyres are permitted to be buried annually, despite available recovery options
4. On-farm dumping and burning — prohibitive collection costs drive routine dumping and burning of large off-the-road tyres on farms
5. Low recycling rates — Australia recycles just 17% of used tyres, with 40% going to energy recovery and 30% to burial and landfill
6. Underdeveloped circular end markets — growth is held back by insufficient procurement of tyre-derived material, over-reliance on energy recovery, and the continued permitting of OTR tyre burial

A single lever has the biggest impact

The report concludes that the most effective way to address these constraints is a Mandatory Participation Scheme at a national or jurisdictional level.