MTA Group submission to the Inquiry into the Current State of the Australian Tyre Industry

Tyres play a critical role in vehicle safety across all segments of the Australian fleet, from passenger vehicles to heavy machinery used in agriculture and mining. However, the scale of end-of-life tyre generation presents a growing environmental and economic challenge. With approximately 67 million tyres reaching the end of their life each year, Australia continues to rely heavily on overseas markets to manage this waste stream, exporting the majority of recovered tyres for low-value energy recovery rather than maximising domestic reuse and recycling opportunities.

The MTA Group believes this outcome reflects the structural limitations of the current voluntary tyre stewardship framework. While voluntary arrangements have delivered incremental improvements, they have reached the limits of their effectiveness and continue to allow free-riding, stockpiling and environmentally harmful disposal practices. A well-designed, mandatory co-regulated stewardship scheme would address these shortcomings by ensuring full participation across the supply chain, improving economies of scale, strengthening compliance, and creating the certainty required to attract investment in domestic recycling and reuse infrastructure.

Transitioning to a mandatory stewardship model would deliver clear economic and environmental benefits. Improved recycling economics would reduce costs for small and medium automotive businesses through better access to collection services, while increased scheme revenue would support innovation, regional job creation and new industrial uses for recovered tyre materials. Environmentally, a mandated system would significantly reduce illegal dumping, landfill and stockpiling risks, supporting a genuine circular economy that prioritises resource resilience, public safety and long-term environmental protection.

Click here to view the submission.