Australia plans ban on waste tyre exports

Australia is planning to ban the export of waste tyres. Speaking at the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) on August 9 in Cairns, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that only about 12 per cent of materials are properly recycled in the country, including tyres.

He said: “There will be no export of plastics to other countries where it runs the risk of floating around in our oceans.

“This stuff won’t change unless you say: ‘There’s going to be a point in time where you’re not going to be able to put this stuff in a ship and send it off to someone else.’

“We’ve got to start thinking about what we do when that happens. I would like that date to be as soon as is practicable.”

Last year, Australia spent $2.8b to export nearly four and a half million tonnes of waste, with most going to Vietnam, Indonesia and China.

Morrison said that export changes would be done with industry partnership and consultation, with environment ministers to develop a timeline.