Whitehaven coal: Werris Creek, Tarrawonga coal mine operator to bury, not recycle enormous tyres after government sign-off

Some 350 tonnes of "waste heavy vehicle" tyres from mining equipment will be disposed of at the Tarrawonga coal mine.

Local farmers and activists have long argued the company should be required to recycle the tyres.

Breeza farmer Peter Wills said the company could afford to recycle the 600 or so tyres from the Werris Creek mine.

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"These shouldn't be buried on a site that will in due course become an agricultural site again," he said, in April.

But Whitehaven was granted approval on Thursday by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) to bury the tyres instead.

The company told DPIE that the plan "would be of minimal environmental impact".

There are no recycling facilities nearby and "transport of waste heavy vehicle tyres is not viable".

"These recycling facilities are also generally designed on a local council scale for passenger tyres and thus capacity is an issue," the company said in its development application.

"Currently, available recycling technology is predominantly focused around passenger tyres (i.e. not heavy vehicle tyres)."

The company committed to continue to investigate "feasible and reasonable opportunities" for recycling the tyres.

About 68 tyres will also be buried every year at the overburden of company's Werris Creek coal mine.

Whitehaven has been storing and periodically burying the waste tyres in the mine's overburden emplacement areas since the commencement of operations.

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