Airport Tyre Disposal: Recycling Aircraft and Ground Support Tyres

By:     Conor Murphy

Expert review by:     Kieran Donnelly

Airport operations generate two categories of waste tyre that are fundamentally different in their construction, regulatory context, and appropriate disposal route. Aviation tyres from aircraft undercarriage are specialist engineered products designed for extreme loads and pressures. Ground support equipment tyres from tugs, cargo loaders, fuel bowsers, and airside vehicles are closer to standard commercial vehicle tyres in character, though some categories use solid or foam-fill construction.

Managing these two streams requires a clear understanding of which route applies to which tyre type. Confusing them, either by processing aviation tyres through standard routes or by over-engineering the disposal of standard GSE tyres, creates unnecessary cost and compliance risk. This guide covers both categories in detail, along with the regulatory requirements that govern tyre waste management at airport operations.

Aviation Tyre Construction: Why These Tyres Are Different

An aircraft tyre is an extraordinary piece of engineering. The main gear tyres on a large commercial aircraft must support loads of 20 to 50 tonnes at the moment of touchdown, spin up from zero to landing speed (typically 250 to 300 km/h) in a fraction of a second, and do this repeatedly across hundreds of landings before replacement. To achieve this, aviation tyres use a fundamentally different internal construction from road vehicle tyres.

The primary reinforcement in an aircraft tyre is aramid (Kevlar) fibre cord rather than the steel cord used in truck and OTR tyres. Aramid delivers the required tensile strength at a significantly lower weight than steel, which is critical for aviation where every kilogram of tyre mass is also payload capacity lost. The tyre operates at inflation pressures of 150 to 200 PSI, roughly five to six times the pressure of a car tyre, which requires the multi-ply aramid construction to contain safely.

These differences matter for disposal planning. Aramid cord cannot be processed alongside steel-cord tyres in standard rubber crumb production without additional separation steps. The fibre contamination in the output crumb is problematic for quality-sensitive markets. Aviation tyres are therefore a distinct processing category, not simply large versions of truck tyres.

Aviation Tyre Life Cycle: Retreading and End of Carcass Life

Understanding how aviation tyres reach the waste stream helps airport operators plan their disposal arrangements correctly. Unlike most road vehicle tyres, aviation tyres are retreaded on a managed cycle as a matter of routine rather than exception.

Each tyre carcass is inspected after removal using non-destructive testing (NDT) methods including shearography and ultrasound. If the carcass meets the structural criteria for retreading, it is sent to an approved retread facility. Most aviation tyres go through two to four complete retread cycles before the carcass reaches its structural end of life. Only at this point does the carcass become waste requiring disposal.

The retread cycle is managed by the airline’s maintenance programme or by the tyre supplier under a managed service contract. For airport operators and ground handlers, the key compliance question is what happens to carcasses that the retread contractor has assessed as unfit for further retreading. These condemned carcasses are waste and must enter the disposal chain.

Ground Support Equipment Tyres: Categories and Processing Routes

Standard pneumatic GSE tyres are the simplest to manage. Most of these categories are equivalent to commercial vehicle tyres in construction and can be processed through the same routes as standard truck tyre waste. For airports generating significant GSE tyre volumes, the truck tyre sidewall cutter removes the sidewall before baling using the truck tyre baler, producing PAS 108 bales or energy recovery material from what would otherwise be a collection cost.

Foam-Filled Airside Tyres: The Exception to Standard Processing

Some airside vehicles use foam-filled or polyurethane-filled tyres in applications where tyre deflation during operation would create a safety hazard. Aircraft tugs in areas with foreign object debris (FOD), for example, may use foam-fill tyres to eliminate the puncture risk. Ground vehicles operating on runways and taxiways during live aircraft movements cannot safely suffer a tyre failure, so foam-fill is used despite the weight and cost penalty.

Foam-filled tyres are pneumatic casing construction with the air cavity replaced by injected polyurethane foam. They look identical to standard tyres from the outside but are substantially heavier and cut differently. The OTR tyre sidewall cutter can cut through many foam-fill tyre types, but the fill material increases the cutting force requirement and produces different cut sections from a hollow pneumatic tyre. Confirm suitability for specific foam-fill tyre types with Gradeall International before committing to a processing approach.

Compliance Requirements for Airport Tyre Waste

Airport operations in the UK are subject to the same waste tyre regulations as any other business. There are no aviation-specific exemptions from the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011, or the duty of care obligations that apply to all waste producers. The specific requirements are:

•        All waste tyres must be stored in conditions that minimise fire risk. The Environment Agency guidance on waste tyre storage specifies maximum quantities for uncontrolled storage and requires appropriate separation from buildings and other hazards.

•        Transport of waste tyres must be carried out by registered waste carriers. Confirm carrier registration before arranging any tyre waste collection.

•        Waste transfer notes must be completed for all waste tyre movements off-site. Records must be kept for a minimum of two years.

•        Processing waste tyres on-site may require an environmental permit or registered exemption depending on the volume and activities involved.

Airport airside security requirements add a layer of operational complexity that does not apply to standard tyre recycling operations. Waste tyre contractors working airside need appropriate security clearance and airside passes. For operations generating tyre waste in security-restricted zones, confirming that waste contractors have the required access credentials before arranging collection is essential. A contractor who cannot access the airside area cannot collect the tyres.

Processing Routes for Aviation Tyre Carcasses

Spent aviation tyre carcasses at the end of their retread life are accepted by specialist tyre recyclers with equipment configured for aramid-cord construction. The main end-use routes are:

•        Energy recovery at cement kilns and industrial furnaces, where the aramid fibre and rubber both contribute calorific value. This is the dominant route for aviation tyre carcasses in the UK.

•        Specialist rubber granulation at facilities equipped to handle aramid contamination in the crumb output. The aramid fibres must be separated from the rubber crumb for quality-sensitive applications.

•        Pyrolysis at facilities accepting mixed rubber feedstock, where the composition is less critical than in crumb production.

For most airports, the volume of aviation carcasses is insufficient to justify on-site processing investment. A supply arrangement with a specialist aviation tyre recycler or a licensed tyre waste contractor experienced with aviation materials is the practical approach. Confirm that the contractor can handle aramid-cord construction and that their disposal facility is licensed for this material.

When On-Site Processing Makes Sense for Airport GSE Tyres

The economics of on-site GSE tyre processing depend primarily on fleet size and monthly tyre generation volume. For a large international hub airport with hundreds of GSE vehicles across multiple airlines and ground handlers, the aggregate tyre generation volume across the operation may be substantial enough to justify centralised processing at a dedicated facility on the airport campus.

For hub airports or airport groups where centralised tyre management across multiple operators is possible, the tyre recycling equipment range provides the equipment to build an on-site processing capability that converts a collection cost into a bale revenue stream.

Conor Murphy, Director of Gradeall International

“Airport GSE tyre waste is under-managed at most regional airports because the volumes from any single ground handler are modest. The opportunity is in looking at the aggregate volume across all handlers at the airport and asking whether a shared processing facility makes sense. At a busy regional airport, the combined GSE tyre volume across airlines, ground handlers, fuel suppliers, and catering operators can easily justify a sidewall cutter and baler working a few hours a week.”

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