The Everyday Tyre – A Complex Product with a Complicated History

Every day in Australia, tyres roll quietly beneath millions of cars, trucks, and machines, connecting everything from delivery vans to mining dump trucks to the ground. They’re essential, they’re often ignored in terms of maintenance and people do not like spending money on them. They’re also one of the most challenging waste streams to manage.

A single tyre is made up of multiple materials such as rubber, steel, textiles, oils, and chemicals. All mixed together and engineered for various purposes when they are in use on a vehicle. But once those tyres reach the end of their life, that same complexity makes them a challenge to recycle.

Before we talk about tyre recycling and Tyre-Derived Fuel (TDF), it’s worth understanding where tyres come from, the industries behind them and what they are doing as manufacturers to enable sustainability within their products.

The Big Six: Global Leaders Driving the Tyre Industry

Founded in Japan in 1931, Bridgestone is one of the world’s largest tyre makers, producing everything from passenger to mining tyres. It’s also active in OTR/mine tyres through its Firestone brand and other off-road divisions. Its ENLITEN® technology focuses on reducing tyre weight and rolling resistance, helping lower fuel use and emissions. Bridgestone is also working on advanced recycling projects that convert used tyres back into raw materials that can be used in the manufacturing process of new ones.

Bridgestone is positioning itself as a front-runner in circular tyre innovation, with technology investments across mechanical, chemical, and supply-chain angles.

The French brand Michelin is known for quality and innovation. The brand is associated with performance, longevity, innovation, and sustainability. Its “All-Sustainable” approach runs through every part of the business, designing tyres that last longer and use fewer raw materials. Over successive generations, Michelin claims to have halved rolling resistance in some core passenger tyre lines (e.g. the “Energy Saver” lineage), this is good for reducing vehicle emissions. Michelin also champions retreading for truck and bus tyres to extend their usable life.

Michelin’s brand strength gives it the latitude to lead in “greener tyres” and circular models, especially where premium margin grants flexibility to absorb cost.

Germany’s Continental is a leader in automotive technology and tyre innovation. Its ContiRe.Tex system reuses plastic bottles to make tyre reinforcement, and the company has been exploring natural rubber alternatives such as dandelion rubber for a number of years to reduce reliance on traditional rubber tree plantations. Continental markets “sustainable tyres” that incorporate recycled materials, bio-based feedstocks (e.g. in rubber or oils), and design for recyclability.

Continental sees sustainable tyres as a differentiator, especially in Europe, and leans on its broader engineering and materials capabilities to push circular innovation.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an iconic U.S. tyre maker founded in 1898, with a wide global footprint and product portfolio across passenger, commercial, agricultural, and specialty tyres. Goodyear has invested in bio-based materials like soybean oil for more sustainable tyre compounds. In its 2023 sustainability report, Goodyear emphasises four priority topics: climate decarbonization, circularity, supply chain transparency, and adaptation/resilience.

Goodyear is broadly aligned with the industry push toward circular materials, though it arguably lags in public flagship technology branding (compared to Bridgestone’s ENLITEN or Michelin’s eco-design narrative).

One of the oldest names in tyres, Dunlop is today owned by different parent companies around the world. Dunlop’s global footprint is less coherent than the others, and in many markets it is not the technology or volume leader. While its sustainability story is less publicised, its products continue to focus on performance and affordability across passenger and light commercial markets. The company is evaluating end-of-life tyre recycling routes, including pyrolysis and chemical recovery, to close loops.

Because Dunlop is often a sub-brand, its innovations tend to follow the parent company’s broader strategy.

The Italian premium tyre maker Pirelli blends luxury with environmental consciousness. It is globally known for its high-end, premium and performance tyres. It is often associated with luxury and racing (e.g. its long tenure as the exclusive F1 tyre supplier). Its Eco-Safety approach explicitly emphasises use of bio-based and recycled materials in new tyres (e.g. rice husk silica replacing mineral silica). Pirelli aims to exceed 50% bio-based/recycled material content in some tyres. It is working on joint recycling agreements and promoting end-of-life tyre circularity.

Pirelli is punching above its size in environmental branding, leveraging its premium positioning to push greater circular content without (so far) compromising performance.

Other strong global players include Yokohama, Hankook, Kumho and Sumitomo Rubber (Falken), all investing in sustainability and circular economy initiatives.

In comparing across the major brands, a few patterns emerge:

1. Every large tyre company now claims a circular or sustainable narrative, but with varying depth and credibility.
2. The stronger ones tie their brand identity to sustainability (e.g. Bridgestone’s ENLITEN, Michelin’s eco-design, Pirelli’s Eco-Safety).
3. Chemical recycling (pyrolysis, depolymerisation) is emerging as a differentiator, but is still in pilot/scaling stages.
4. The cost and supply constraints of bio-based/recycled feedstocks remain a barrier; margins and technical performance must be preserved.

Tyre Segments Explained – From Passenger Cars to Mining Trucks

Each tyre segment has its own life cycle and end-of-life challenges:

• Passenger, SUV & 4×4 Tyres: The most common on Australian roads. Sold through tyre retailers and fitment centres such as Jax Tyres, Bob Jane T-Marts, MyCar Tyre and Auto, and Tyrepower.
• Light Commercial (LCV): Fitted to delivery vans and utes; designed for heavier loads and durability. Usually sold and fitted through the same retail network as Passenger, SUV and 4×4  tyres.
• Truck & Bus Tyres: Managed through fleet contracts and commercial service centres. Many are retreaded several times to extend service life.
• Agricultural Tyres: Huge, slow-moving tyres fitted to tractors and harvesters, usually sold through rural equipment dealers.
• Industrial Tyres: Found on forklifts, port equipment, and yard machines. Many are solid rubber for puncture resistance.
• Mining & OTR Tyres: Among the largest tyres on Earth, weighing several tonnes each. They’re fitted and serviced by specialised contractors in remote mine sites.

Each sector generates vastly different waste tyres, from small passenger tyres stacked by the hundreds to single mining tyres that can’t fit on a truck. That diversity is why recycling solutions are complex and consist of multiple machines depending on the tyre segment being processed and the recycled output produced.

Australia’s Tyre Challenge: What Happens After Removal

When a tyre is worn or damaged, it’s removed at a workshop or service centre and handed to an accredited recycler. From there, its journey diverges:

1. Reuse or Retreading: Truck and bus tyres in good condition are retreaded, giving them a second life. Once the casing can no longer be safely retreaded it is recycled.
2. Recycling: Tyres can be shredded and processed into rubber crumb to be used in playgrounds, sporting surfaces, road asphalt, and molded rubber products.
3. Energy Recovery (TDF): The popular option for Australia. Shredded tyres are used as Tyre-Derived Fuel (TDF) and exported, replacing coal in cement kilns and other industrial furnaces.

Our end-of-life tyre recycling in Australia article does a deep dive into the challenge.

Tyre Recycling Solutions from Waste Initiatives

To meet Australia’s growing need for safe, efficient tyre recycling, Waste Initiatives delivers two distinct system ranges designed for different scales of operation:

WastePac Tyre Recycling System

Built for small to medium recyclers and regional operations, the WastePac range provides a reliable and affordable entry into tyre recycling. These systems process everything from passenger to truck tyres, and even cut OTR segments, into consistent TDF, crumb rubber or fine rubber powder.
They feature:

• Two-shaft primary shredders for whole tyres
• Integrated metal and fibre removal
• Secondary shredders and milling systems for clean, fuel-ready outputs

This range gives operators a complete, modular solution that can expand as volumes grow, backed by Waste Initiatives’ national service and parts support.

Download WastePac Solution Brochure

Vertech Premium Tyre Recycling Systems

For large-scale mining and industrial applications, Waste Initiatives’ Vertech range delivers heavy-duty performance through partnerships with Eagle International, Barclay Shredders, and SSI Shredding Systems.
These premium systems handle all the tyre segments, from passenger through to the toughest OTR tyres in Australia, using:

• Eagle equipment for mobile debeading, cutting, and splitting
• Barclay shredders for high-throughput TDF production
• SSI shredders for final reduction into clean, wire-free rubber mulch

Together, they make large-scale OTR recycling safer, more cost-effective and sustainable, transforming one of the hardest waste streams into valuable resources

Download Vertech Solution Brochure

Turning a National Waste Challenge into Sustainable Solution

Tyres are one of the most complex yet recyclable waste streams in the world. From passenger cars to mining dump trucks, every segment presents a unique recycling challenge.

Australia’s push towards a circular economy depends on strong local recycling capacity, responsible collection, and reliable equipment to turn used tyres into valuable resources like TDF and crumb rubber.

At the same time, tyre manufacturers have an ongoing responsibility to design for recyclability and continue investing in circular solutions. By using more renewable materials, supporting stewardship schemes, and working directly with recyclers, manufacturers can enable higher recovery rates and help close the loop on the products they create. Collaboration between producers and recyclers is essential if the tyre industry is to achieve true sustainability, not just in production but throughout the product’s entire life cycle.

With proven WastePac and Vertech systems, Waste Initiatives provides the technology and support to make that transition possible, helping Australian operators transform tyre waste into energy, safety, and long-term sustainability.

Contact Waste Initiatives today to learn more about our tyre recycling solutions and how we can help turn your waste challenges into resource opportunities.