PAS 108-Compliant Bales: What US Tire Buyers Need to Know

By:     Conor Murphy

If you are sourcing tire bales internationally, specifying tire bales for civil engineering applications, or selling bales into export markets, you will encounter PAS 108. It is the British standard that defines how tire bales are constructed for use in civil engineering and construction applications, and it has become the de facto international reference standard for tire bale specification in markets beyond the United Kingdom.

For US buyers and recyclers, PAS 108 is not a domestic regulatory requirement. No US federal agency mandates compliance with it, and no state waste tire program requires it. But in international bale trade and in civil engineering applications where bale structural integrity matters, PAS 108 is the specification language that buyers and engineers use to communicate what they need. Understanding it makes you a more credible and effective participant in the international tire bale market.

What PAS 108 Actually Specifies

PAS 108 is a Publicly Available Specification published by the British Standards Institution (BSI). It was developed to establish consistent standards for tire bales used in geotechnical and civil engineering applications, particularly in the United Kingdom, where tire bales have been used in embankments, retaining structures, road construction, and noise barrier applications since the 1990s.

The standard covers four primary dimensions of tire bale construction: physical dimensions, density, wire specification, and tire content. Each dimension has defined tolerances that a compliant bale must meet. The intent is that a bale described as PAS 108-compliant can be relied upon by a civil engineer to have predictable physical properties for structural design purposes.

How Gradeall Equipment Produces PAS 108-Compliant Bales

Gradeall’s MKII Tire Baler is designed to produce bales that meet PAS 108 dimensional and construction requirements. The bale chamber dimensions, the hydraulic compression specification, and the wire tying system are all configured to produce bales within PAS 108 tolerances when operating with appropriate tire input categories at the correct loading.

The Gradeall MKII Tire Baler has supplied PAS 108-compliant bales to civil engineering projects across the UK, Europe, and international markets including the Middle East and Australia. US operators using the MKII can produce bales that meet PAS 108 specification, enabling access to international civil engineering markets that specify compliance with the standard.

Producing PAS 108-compliant bales requires not just the right equipment but the right operating practice. Bales must be made from whole used tires, not shredded or cut material. The tire loading per bale cycle must be consistent. Wire ties must be applied correctly with appropriate tension. Quality control records demonstrating specification compliance are expected by civil engineering buyers who specify PAS 108.

PAS 108 in the International Bale Trade Context

For US exporters of tire bales, PAS 108 compliance is a market access requirement in several significant international markets. UK and European civil engineering contractors who specify tire bales in infrastructure projects use PAS 108 as the standard. Middle Eastern construction markets that have adopted tire bale technology in civil engineering applications reference PAS 108 specification. Australian recyclers and contractors are familiar with the standard through UK technical knowledge transfer.

In practice, export buyers from these markets ask US suppliers whether their bales meet PAS 108 and ask to see documentation confirming compliance. A US recycler who can confirm PAS 108-compliant bale production with documentation has a competitive advantage over one who produces bales to unspecified standards, because the civil engineering buyer has a basis for structural design that does not require independent testing of each shipment.

“When we set up the MKII’s bale dimensions and compression specification, PAS 108 was the benchmark we designed to,” says Conor Murphy, Director of Gradeall International. “The international civil engineering market for tire bales depends on consistent, documented bale specification. That’s what the standard provides, and that’s why buyers in serious civil engineering applications insist on it.”

PAS 108 vs. US Practice: Key Differences

The United States does not have a direct federal or national equivalent to PAS 108 for tire bales in civil engineering applications. ASTM International has published ASTM D6270, which covers tire bales for geotechnical applications and overlaps with PAS 108 in many respects. However, adoption of ASTM D6270 in US civil engineering practice has been less consistent than PAS 108 adoption in the UK and internationally.

For US operations supplying domestic civil engineering markets, the practical situation is that project specifications may reference ASTM D6270, may reference PAS 108, may specify bale dimensions and wire count directly without citing a standard, or may have no tire bale specification at all because civil engineers unfamiliar with tire bale technology default to other fill materials. Understanding both standards and being able to document compliance with either improves your ability to compete for civil engineering bale supply contracts.

Review the full Gradeall tyre recycling equipment range for equipment capable of producing PAS 108-compliant bales, and contact Gradeall directly through the Gradeall website to discuss compliance documentation for your specific export market requirements.

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