Media release
4 August 2004

Tyres shredders on the right Track

Tyres shredded at Waitakere are ending up as surfaces for horse arenas, land erosion control, sports turf management, children’s playgrounds, sound proofing and thermal barriers.

When Glendene company J & J Laughton started recycling tyres seven years ago there was virtually no market for recycled tyre products; it had to create its own markets, using US and UK models.

The practice of using shredded rubber mixed with layers of sand on a solid, well-drained base, for horse arenas has become very popular with horse trainers, says J & J Laughton’s administration manager Christine Waters. “The rubber lessens the impact on the horse,” she says.

The company shreds tyres from Wellsford to Cambridge.

J & J Laughton and the Waitakere City Council are working with Tyre Track, a new tyre management system set up to improve the management of old tyres and to help discourage unauthorised type storage and dumping. Tyre Track is operated by the Motor Trade Association on behalf of the tyre industry and is supported by the Ministry for the Environment.

Tyre Tracks links tyre dealers with collectors/transporters through a website (www.tyretrack.co.nz) or 0508TYRETRACK (0508-897-387).

Disposing of excess tyres is a growing challenge which Waitakere City deals with by recycling. For the past five to six years, Waitakere has not taken old tyres to landfills. Instead, the Refuse Transfer Station receives them and stores them for removal.

J & J Laughton collects the tyres from the Refuse Station once per week and delivers them to the shredding plant at Glendene, which supports Tyre Track.

Each year between three to four million end-of-life tyres are disposed of New Zealand. Some end up with backyard operators who charge people to get rid of their tyres, and then abandon their stockpile.

The Ministry for the Environment says in many areas tyres in landfills can be a problem because they are bulky and trap air. If badly stored above ground they have the potential to cause toxic fires. A recent fire in the Waikato cost over $90,000 to extinguish. The Ministry says that tyre piles can also be a “breeding ground for vermin and are unsightly.”

To dispose of tyres responsibly, the standard procedure at Waitakere is to take them to the Refuse Transfer Station at The Concourse, Henderson, (which charges $3 for a normal tyre car to $45 for earthmoving tyres) or to a Tyre Track outlet.

ENDS

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