Exports of waste tyres

You need a waste export licence to export regulated waste tyres from Australia.

Read this page before you apply for a waste export licence.

We regulate the export of waste tyres under the following legislation:

Tyres we regulate

Regulated waste tyres are:

  • tyres designed for motorised vehicles that are:
    • discarded, rejected, left over from an industrial, commercial, domestic or other activity
    • surplus to or a by-product of an industrial, commercial, domestic or other activity
  • the rubber component of any such tyres
  • waste material that includes any such tyres and is intended for use as fuel (tyre derived fuel).

Examples of waste tyres include those from:

  • passenger cars and sports utility vehicles (SUVs)
  • buses and trucks
  • aircraft
  • off-the-road (OTR) vehicles and farm equipment
  • motorbikes and similar road vehicles.

You cannot export whole baled tyres.

Tyres we don't regulate

You don’t need a licence to export waste tyres if they are:

  • designed for:
    • electric single-person transport such as scooters, skateboards and bikes 
    • wheelchairs
    • remote-controlled toys
  • not made of rubber
  • exported solely for personal or domestic use
  • temporarily imported into Australia and then exported again in the same container with the same trade description
  • ordered to be exported under Part 3 of the Hazardous Waste Act (Regulation of Exports and Imports) 1989 (the Hazardous Waste Act).

Apply for a licence

You can apply for a waste export licence to export waste tyres:

  • for retreading
  • for re-use as a second-hand tyre on a vehicle
  • that have been processed in accordance with a waste tyre specification and are intended to be used:
    • as fuel, or
    • for a purpose other than fuel, such as processing into new rubber products.

Find out more about applying for a licence to export waste tyres:

Contact us

WELD portal: if you have a WELD portal account, contact us via ‘My messages’

Email: exportwaste@nationalepa.gov.au

Phone: 1800 976 422