State Government of Victoria

Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) has issued Brooklyn company Tyre Lug Services (Barro Group Pty Ltd) with a notice that requires about 10,000 waste tyres from trucks, earthmovers and dump trucks to be separated to ensure community safety.

The tyres at the site are the equivalent of about 150,000 regular car tyres.

EPA Metro Manager Daniel Hunt said EPA was also investigating possible breaches of the Environment Protection Act 1970 (the Act).

“The illegal storage of this many tyres at a site that is bordered with grassland shows complete disregard to the local community’s safety and EPA is now gathering a brief of evidence to see whether any offences have been committed under the Act,” Mr Hunt said.

“Anyone who illegally stockpiles tyres can face a fine of up to $758,350 if prosecuted before the courts.”

Mr Hunt said that if the premises – where no fire fighting equipment was observed near stockpiles – were to catch fire it had the potential to be an environmental disaster.

“Tyre fires can cause major pollution of the atmosphere and are incredibly difficult to extinguish, as was the case when a stockpile caught fire in Broadmeadows earlier this year,” Mr Hunt said.

“Once ignited, tyre fires are very hard to control and generate hazardous smoke. This smoke can cause a health risk to the community through the inhalation of particles and chemicals.”

Mr Hunt said that by storing more than 5,000 tyres at its Market Road site, the company was in breach of EPA tyre regulations that came into force in 2015.

“EPA tightened tyre regulations to ensure the Victorian public was better protected from the risk of tyre fires from unsafe stockpiles,” Mr Hunt said.

“The guidelines require premises that store more than 40 tonnes or 5,000 waste tyres to obtain a works approval and licence from EPA, which Tyre Lug does not have.”

Tyre Lug, a business that re-treads and re-lugs mostly off the road (OTR) tyres, has indicated that it will apply for an EPA licence to store more than 5,000 tyres at its site.

The notice was issued by EPA following a joint inspection of the site in November with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) and Brimbank City Council.

If the community suspects someone is illegally stockpiling tyres or taking them to a place that cannot lawfully accept waste tyres, they are encouraged to contact EPA’s 24-hour pollution hotline on 1300 EPA VIC (1300 372 842).

To view EPA tyre regulations, please visit: