Across Australia, riders and bike stores are working hard to reduce waste, but there is currently no national pathway for recycling bike tyres and tubes.

Unlike car tyres, bike rubber is not covered under an accredited product stewardship scheme. As a result, most used tyres and tubes end up in landfill, are stockpiled on-site at bike stores, or managed through voluntary arrangements that lack long-term certainty.

Including bike tyres and tubes in the national framework would help strengthen policies, improve industry practices, and ensure that rubber waste is consistently placed into the correct recovery stream, rather than being treated as general waste.

The Federal Government’s Review of the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act provides a critical opportunity to address this gap and support a circular, responsible approach within the cycling sector.

We are also calling for the Department to work with us to develop an economical model that would support this piece of work, ensuring that bike rubber waste can be collected and recycled nationally in a financially viable, scalable way.

A positive example: what is possible with bike rubber

Internationally, companies such as Schwalbe demonstrate what meaningful circular systems for bike rubber waste can look like.

Schwalbe operates a closed-loop recycling model where used bike tyres and tubes from all brands are collected through participating retailers. These materials are then separated, processed and converted into new resources that can be used to manufacture future tyre products.

Their approach shows what can be achieved when a system is well-designed:

• bike rubber is kept out of landfill
• materials are reused for far longer than a single lifecycle
• carbon emissions fall when recycled materials replace virgin rubber inputs
• riders and stores have a simple, accessible way to return worn-out tyres and tubes

This is the direction Australia can move towards — but only if bike rubber is formally included within the national stewardship framework.

What we are calling for:

We are asking the Minister for the Environment and Water and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) to:

- Formally include bike tyres and tubes within Australia’s national product stewardship framework.
- Establish clear responsibilities across the supply chain, manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers.
- Support the development of accessible, Australia-wide collection and recycling pathways.
- Ensure that tyres and tubes are consistently placed into the correct waste and resource-recovery streams.
- Work with industry participants, including Green Wheels, to develop an economical and scalable model that supports this work long-term.

Why this matters:

Cycling is one of Australia’s most sustainable forms of transport, yet one of its most common waste streams still has no national solution. Riders and retailers want to recycle their tyres and tubes. They simply need a framework that makes it possible.

With the federal review underway, this is the moment to act. By including bike rubber in the scheme, Australia can reduce waste, support circular innovation, and ensure responsible end-of-life pathways for one of the industry's most persistent materials.

Add your name to support a national solution for bike tyre and tube recycling.

Together, we can ensure that sustainable mobility includes sustainable end-of-life pathways.