Logan City Council in Queensland, Australia, reports that is has teamed with Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA) to conduct trials of a new eco-friendly road surface.

According to Logan City Council, the surface is a combination of recycled end-of-life tyres and reclaimed asphalt. Installation of the new surface on Lagoon Road, Carbrook is scheduled for this April. TSA has committed $150,000 to the trial and additional laboratory testing, which aims to prove that the new surface will be as good as, or better than, standard road sealing.

Logan City Council Director of Road Water Infrastructure Daryl Ross pinpoints Council is always looking at innovative ways to deliver better roads.

"Council wants to build a road network that is suitable for our growing region," he said.

"This partnership with Tyre Stewardship Australia aims to enhance road quality for users in a cost-effective way.”

Tyre Stewardship Australia CEO Lina Goodman said the trial is about creating a recycled road product that saves money while delivering a safe and reliable product.

“It also has a huge environmental benefit to the community because it is using recycled tyres,” Ms Goodman said.

The trial will begin in May and initial results are expected by August, according to Logan City Council. The road will be constructed by Queensland firm Fulton Hogan. Crumb rubber for the asphalt is produced by reducing scrap tyres down to small sizes by shredding and removing steel and fibre along with any other contaminants such as dust, glass or rock.

Reclaimed asphalt consists of old, damaged pavement materials milled and crushed into a new mixture.

According to TSA’s latest data, Australia generated the equivalent of 56 million used car tyres last financial year. Eighty-nine percent of them were recovered for reuse or processed into tyre derived products. The rest ended up in landfill or were stockpiled. In Queensland, the equivalent of 12.7 million car tyres were generated with a similar recovery rate of 69 per cent. Around 14 per cent of the recovered tyres were locally recycled into crumb rubber and granules.

Background of Tyre Stewardship Australia

Tyre Stewardship Australia, formed in 2014, aims to reduce the amount of end-of-life tyres damaging the environment via landfilling, illegal dumping or export while increasing the recycling rate of end of life tyres and expanding commercial markets for tyre derived products.

TSA is made up of representatives across the tyre supply chain including retailers, manufacturers, recyclers and collectors.

Article by Logan City Council.