EPA recommends conditional approval for tyre recycling facility: Report 1601

Release date: 
July 31, 2017

A proposal by Elan Energy Matrix Pty Ltd (Elan) to develop and operate a tyre resource recovery facility in Welshpool has been recommended for approval by the Environmental Protection Authority.

The proposed facility, located in a general Industry zone about 12 km south-east of Perth, would involve processing end-of-life tyres sourced from the proponent’s existing tyre storage and shredding operations. Shredded tyres would be processed to produce char, steel wire, oil and process gas.

A four-week public review process produced three submissions, which included concern about the impact of emissions on human health.

EPA Chairman Tom Hatton said the EPA had assessed the environmental impacts based on the level of confidence in the modelling predictions, the pollution control equipment, and the proposed monitoring and mitigation, and concluded that the proposal was environmentally acceptable.

The principle of waste minimisation was a relevant consideration in the assessment, which noted that the proposal would be recovering useful resources from end-of-life tyres for reuse and recycling that would otherwise be disposed of in landfill or stored in designated tyre storage facilities.

“The EPA’s thorough assessment of the proposal identified that Part V environmental regulation of the Environmental Protection Act is an appropriate regulatory mechanism for emissions,” he said.

The EPA’s report to the Minister for Environment is now open for a two-week public appeal period, closing 14 August, 2017. Appeals are administered independently by the Appeals Convenor and can be made at www.appealsconvenor.wa.gov.au

The Minister for Environment will make the final decision.

EPA Report 1601 is available at www.epa.wa.gov.au

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