TSA has contacted universities across Australia to garner interest in the upcoming launch of the Tyre Stewardship Fund.
The Tyre Stewardship Fund fund will allocate $1-$1.5 million a year for research and market development projects to support the use of tyre-derived products.
Matt Genever, CEO of Tyre Stewardship Australia, confirmed that he has written to every university in Australia about the upcoming release of Round 1 of the Tyre Stewardship Fund, enabling research schools the time to prepare their applications.
Speaking today to Waste Management Review, Mr Genever said: “The reaction so far from universities has been overwhelmingly positive. You look at what the UNSW’s SMaRT Centre achieved with OneSteel in using end of life tyres in steelmaking – that kind of research leading to a practical solution is the ideal outcome.”
One of TSA’s priorities is to facilitate partnerships between research bodies, government, tyre recyclers and end-users to ensure collaboration and knowledge transfer in developing a market for waste tyre products.
By providing an update about the TSA’s preparations for the fund, Mr Genever added: “This signals that we are starting to engage early to build partnerships with research organisations and industry because there needs to be alignment between projects, end markets and end users.
“It’s a great opportunity to realise better solutions for management of waste tyres and for innovative projects to use tyre products, where you’re opening up a potential market from a waste stream.”
TSA will provide further information to the industry about its plans for the fund and a conference and seminar program in the near future.