DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND
ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION —USED TYRE STORAGE FACILITIES
998. Hon ROBIN SCOTT to the Minister for Environment:
(1) Can the minister advise how many
used tyre storage facilities are in WA?
(2) How many used tyres are stored
at these facilities?
(3) Is the minister aware of any
plans to reduce the number of used tyres stored?
Hon ALANNA
CLOHESY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question, on behalf of the Minister for Environment.
(1) The
Department of Water and Environmental Regulation licences 60 used tyre storage
facilities within Western Australia under the Environmental Protection Act
1986.
(2) Collectively, these premises are approved to
store up to 318 670 used tyres at any one time. The licences impose a range of
conditions to ensure the environmental risk associated with their aggregation
is minimised.
I note that the
third question asks about plans to reduce the number of used tyres stored in
WA.
(3) On 9 August 2019, the Council of Australian
Governments agreed that Australia should establish a timetable to ban the export of certain waste, including
tyres, while building Australia's capacity to generate high-value
recycled commodities. An export ban is
likely to require a significant increase in local recycling. Consistent
with the ''Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030'',
Western Australia has been active in supporting tyre recycling through the
national tyre recycling scheme delivered by Tyre Stewardship Australia. Main
Roads WA has also committed to increasing the use of crumbed scrap rubber
bituminous binders in road construction and maintenance.