Use, reuse, recycle - our tyre strategy

A recent global shortage of heavy mobile equipment tyres led Rio Tinto to form a taskforce that would look for opportunities to preserve a tyre's use at every stage of its life.

The goal was to ensure that not a single tonne of production would be lost due to a shortage of tyres. At the same time, the taskforce looked for ways to reduce the environmental impact of tyre manufacture, use and disposal, and therefore align with Rio Tinto's sustainable development objectives.

The strategy is based on three key components: use, reuse and recycle. "Use" involves developing improved tyre management systems to extend the life of tyres on site. The retread facility is helping Rio Tinto meet the "reuse" objective. Recycling the rubber stripped from old tyres for applications such as flooring, children's playgrounds and road surfaces connects to the third objective, while also benefiting society and reducing disposal to landfill.

Other sustainable development benefits arising from the tyre strategy include a reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions from tyre manufacturing; a contribution to the strong economic growth and continuing success of our operations; and a contribution to community capacity by providing local jobs. As the strategy ensures the integrity of the tyres at every stage, employee safety is not compromised by unsafe tyres.

"Our goal is to show that retreading can meet both our sustainability and economic objectives," said Simon Waller, specialist, Operations Improvement with Rio Tinto, who is managing the Perth facility. "Our current push is to develop retreads that are cheaper than Michelin on a cost per kilometre basis."

While global demand for large earthmoving tyres has started to fall, Rio Tinto is still facing shortages in key sizes. Although it is envisioned that supply will eventually catch up with demand for tyres, Rio Tinto will continue to make sure the use, reuse and recycling of tyres delivers more value with less impact on the environment.