Boral introduces first Australian asphalt using off-the-road tyre rubber

Boral launched an Australian-first proprietary crumbed rubber asphalt bitumen derived from Off the Road (OTR) tyres on Wednesday, claiming the new product can extend pavement life up to twice that of conventional road treatments.

The construction materials company has developed the asphalt using end-of-life tyres from front-end loaders and quarry haul dump trucks from its own sites. OTR tyres are designed for heavy-duty industrial vehicles used in construction, mining, agriculture and aviation industries.

According to Boral, the high-binder crumbed rubber asphalt surfacing has superior cracking resistance due to anti-oxidation properties that combat UV damage – the primary failure mode of residential roads. Approximately two-thirds of an OTR tyre is recovered for the mix, equating to about 400 kilograms per tyre.

The product follows Boral’s involvement in an Australian Flexible Pavement Association (AfPA) project with Tyre Stewardship Australia that aimed to find the optimum OTR-derived asphalt mix for more sustainable roads.

Boral partnered with Sunshine Coast Council to conduct demonstrations across three sites, paving 7,000 square metres of local roads using 10,000 kilograms of OTR-derived crumbed rubber from vehicles at Boral’s West Burleigh Quarry. The company reported that the equivalent of 25 large earthmover tyres were diverted from landfill for the project.

“Finding ways to be more sustainable and drive a more circular economy is central to what we do at Boral,” said Richard Pearson, Executive General Manager Asphalt at Boral.

He noted that the product would reduce maintenance requirements such as crack sealing and patching, minimising costs and disruption while providing broader sustainability benefits.

“We welcome more councils and all levels of government to embed recycled materials into their projects, including the use of crumbed rubber asphalt roads,” Pearson added.