Green roads driving a more sustainable future for Moreton Bay
Published 05 February 2021
Moreton Bay Region is the first council in Australia to use a game-changing process that fully recycles car tyres into asphalt for roads.
Mayor Peter Flannery said King Street between Maine Road and Snook Street in Clontarf has been resurfaced using Austek’s new Carbonphalt product.
"Council already recycles all of the tyres that we receive into fuel oils and clean gas for electricity generation with no harmful emissions through our contract with Australian Tyre Processors," he said.
"This new road renewal takes our green approach to another level by using roughly 22,000 tyres and giving them a new life as road resurface.
“That’s 2,200 tonnes of tyres that have been used sustainably on our roads instead of the tip, and a 93,000 kg of carbon savings.
“I was shocked to learn 70% of Queensland tyres end up in landfill, and with around 130,000 registered vehicles here in Moreton Bay, I wholeheartedly believe we need to do our part.
“Tyres can take up to 80 years to break down and take up an enormous amount of space in landfill, so I’m thrilled to instead be using a waste product as part of an infrastructure solution.
“For each tonne of this premium asphalt, 10 car tyres are removed from our landfills and repurposed into our roads.
“We are the third largest Council in Australia, so I’m proud to be taking a leading position on how we can reuse and recycle, to ensure we leave our environment in a better place for our children.”
Austek Business Advisor David Simmons said he was thrilled to deliver the first urban delivery of Carbonphalt in Queensland here in Moreton Bay Region.
“We’re also trialling an Australian first here by utilising a unique “thermal desorption” process where fuel oil and active carbon are reused in the manufacturing of asphalt,” Mr Simmons said.
“I have never seen such a sustainable process utilising both activated carbon and tyre derived fuel oil in one operation to such effect in over 38 years in the industry.
“The current environmental problems associated with ever growing stockpiles of waste tyres, coupled with the recent export ban on used tyres means we have had to be innovative in finding a viable solution.
“Nearly a year ago the relationship between Pearl Global and Austek Asphalt started when Austek approached Pearl Global to find out more about what products they were producing from their tyre destruction.
“At Austek we have found the perfect solution with our friends at Pearl Global, Queensland-based companies taking Queensland tyres and repurposing them in a “cradle to grave” circular economy and putting them back into Queensland roads.
“It’s such a cool concept that local tyres are recovered from waste facilities and reused at a rate of 10 tyres for every tonne of asphalt laid, it doesn’t get much better than that!”
Council hopes to use this technology on more roads in the future.