Tyre recycler gains approval to expand in NSW, build in Queensland

“With our Warren facility we have applied to the local council for a permit to expand the tonnage of tyres we can process at the site to 25,000 tonnes and we are confident that the request will be granted soon as we have enjoyed an excellent co-operative relationship with the Warren Shire Council since we established our first tentative test laboratory in the area ten years ago,” said chief operating officer Trevor Bayley in a statement.

As reported by @AuManufacturing last month, GDT has received approval to build a proposed plant at Toowoomba’s Wellcamp Business Park from the Queensland Department of Environment and Science. It has now also gained Development Approval from the Toowoomba Regional Council.

According to the company, the final remaining hurdle to setting up in Toowoomba is a resource recovery grant from the Queensland government to assist in the $10 million construction.

“That plant will employ 14 to 18 people full time, as well as local contractors during the construction phase and create further jobs in the transport associated with collection of old tyres from retailers and other outlets,” added Bayley.

The Toowoomba plant would produce oil classed as “light crude” and would be sent to recycling business Northern Oil Refinery in Gladstone. It could be refined into petrol, diesel or jet fuel.

GDT refers to its core distillation technology as the Randall Process, after inventor and technical director Denis Randall. It is able to heat and separate end-of-life tyres into steel, carbon, and oil. The invention has won awards including a bronze at the 2015 Edison Awards.

The company says it is able to turn a 10 kilogram tyre into four litres of oil, four kilograms of carbon, and two kilograms of steel. It plans to set up seven plants across Australia.

According to Tyre Stewardship Australia, Australians discard 56 million tyres a year.

Picture: GDT’s Warren plant (from https://www.australiaunlimited.com/technology/greenfuel)