Loose tyres occupy enormous space relative to their weight. A pile of 1,000 car tyres takes up approximately 330 square metres when laid flat, or 130 to 160 square metres when stacked to practical heights. That same quantity compressed into bales occupies just 12 to 15 square metres.
This 85% to 90% volume reduction transforms tyre handling economics. Storage costs drop dramatically. Transport efficiency improves by orders of magnitude. Site safety increases because compressed bales are more stable than loose tyre piles. Fire risk reduces because bales have less exposed surface area and internal air voids.
Tyre balers achieve this volume reduction through hydraulic compression. This guide explains how the compression process works, what volume reduction ratios are achievable, how compression affects different tyre types, and what operational benefits result from baling.
Gradeall International manufactures tyre baling equipment at our facility in Dungannon, Northern Ireland. The MKII tyre baler consistently achieves 80% to 85% volume reduction across nearly 40 years of installations in 100+ countries.
Volume reduction is expressed as a percentage or ratio comparing loose volume to compressed volume.
Formula: Volume Reduction % = ((Loose Volume – Compressed Volume) / Loose Volume) × 100
Example calculation:
This 96.7% figure assumes optimal stacking of loose tyres. In reality, loose tyres are rarely stacked optimally. Random piles, safety access requirements, and stability limitations mean loose tyres often occupy 40 to 50 cubic metres per 90 tyres, pushing volume reduction closer to 97% to 98%.
Common expression formats:
All three formats describe the same physical compression. The 85% reduction figure is most commonly used in the tyre recycling industry.
Tyre baling reduces volume by collapsing air voids within and between tyres. The rubber material itself doesn’t compress significantly (rubber is nearly incompressible at the pressures used in balers), but the air spaces do.
Air voids in loose tyres:
A car tyre’s internal cavity holds approximately 0.04 to 0.06 cubic metres of air (40 to 60 litres). When tyres are stacked, additional air gaps exist between tyres. Total air content in a loose tyre pile is 60% to 75% of total volume.
Compression cycle:
The MKII baler applies approximately 200 bar (20 MPa) hydraulic pressure through a ram with 36 tonnes compression force. This force:
The compression is permanent. Once wire-tied, bales maintain their compressed shape because internal friction and wire tension prevent tyres from expanding back to original volume.
Energy input:
Compressing 90 tyres into a 900kg bale requires approximately 5 to 7 kilowatt-hours of electrical energy (0.056 to 0.078 kWh per tyre). At £0.25/kWh, that’s £1.25 to £1.75 in electricity per bale. This modest energy input delivers enormous volume reduction.
Different tyre types achieve different compression ratios due to construction variations.
Car tyres (passenger vehicles):
Car tyres compress efficiently because sidewalls are relatively thin (6-8mm) and tread depth is modest (7-9mm new, 3-4mm when scrapped). Internal cavity collapses readily under pressure.
Van and light truck tyres:
Van tyres have thicker sidewalls (8-10mm) and larger internal cavities. They compress well but benefit from sidewall cutting before baling to remove rigid bead structures that resist compression.
Truck and commercial vehicle tyres:
Truck tyres have steel-reinforced sidewalls (10-15mm thick) and massive steel beads. Whole truck tyres resist compression significantly. Pre-cutting sidewalls improves compression to 80% to 85% reduction.
Agricultural and OTR (off-the-road) tyres:
Large agricultural and mining tyres are too large for standard balers. They must be cut into quarters or smaller sections, then baled. Even quartered sections achieve meaningful volume reduction (70-80%) compared to loose quartered pieces.
To understand baling’s space-saving benefit, first quantify loose tyre storage needs.
Single-layer storage (worst case):
Car tyre flat on ground: 0.33 m² floor space 1,000 tyres single layer: 330 m² 10,000 tyres single layer: 3,300 m² (most of a football pitch)
Single-layer storage is impractical for any volume operation, but it establishes baseline space consumption.
Stacked storage (practical approach):
Tyres stacked vertically to 2.5 metres (maximum safe height without framework):
This assumes perfect stacking (all tyres same size, no access aisles, no safety margins). Real facilities need:
Realistic loose tyre storage:
Total realistic factor: 1.85× the theoretical stacked footprint
1,000 tyres: 40-50 m² 10,000 tyres: 400-500 m²
At £75/m² annual rental (UK industrial warehouse average), storing 10,000 loose tyres costs £30,000 to £37,500 annually just in floor space.
Compressed bales dramatically reduce storage footprint.
Bale specifications:
Bale stacking:
Bales stack safely to 3 bales high (2.4 metres total height):
With practical access requirements:
Space saving vs loose storage:
At £75/m² rental, storing 10,000 baled tyres costs £7,200 annually vs £30,000-£37,500 for loose storage. Annual saving: £22,800 to £30,300 in floor space costs alone.
Volume reduction’s transport benefit exceeds storage savings because transport costs recur with every movement.
Loose tyre transport limitations:
Articulated lorry specifications:
Loading loose car tyres:
This inefficiency means you’re paying for unused payload on every trip.
Baled tyre transport efficiency:
Loading 900kg bales:
Comparison for 10,000 tyres:
At £300 per load, moving 10,000 tyres costs:
For operations moving 10,000 tyres monthly, that’s £13,680 annual transport savings from volume reduction alone.
Compressed bales improve site safety compared to loose tyre stockpiles.
Stability advantages:
Loose tyre piles:
Baled tyres:
Fire safety:
Loose tyre fires are catastrophic:
UK fire brigades classify loose tyre stockpiles as major hazard sites. Environmental permits often limit on-site loose tyre quantities to 500-2,000 tyres maximum.
Baled tyre fires are still serious but more manageable:
Environmental regulators typically allow larger on-site bale quantities (5,000-20,000 tyres in baled form) because risk profile is lower.
Pest control:
Loose tyre piles harbour rodents, insects, and mosquitos (standing water collects in tyre cavities). This creates public health concerns and regulatory scrutiny.
Baled tyres eliminate internal water collection cavities and provide less habitat for pests. Sites with baled storage report 80% to 90% reduction in pest-related complaints compared to loose stockpile periods.
Pre-processing improves compression ratios for certain tyre types.
Sidewall cutting:
Truck tyre sidewall cutters remove the rigid sidewall sections that resist compression. This improves volume reduction from 75-80% (whole tyres) to 85-90% (cut tyres).
Process: Tyre is positioned in cutter, hydraulic shear removes both sidewalls in 30-60 seconds, remaining tread section compresses readily.
Cost: £8,000-£15,000 for sidewall cutter equipment. For operations processing 100+ truck tyres weekly, this investment pays back within 12-18 months through improved baling efficiency and transport savings.
Rim separation:
Tyre rim separators remove steel rims before baling. This:
For car tyres, rim separation is optional (most operations bale tyres with rims attached). For truck tyres, rim removal is often worthwhile due to size and steel value.
Debeading:
Some facilities remove steel beads from tyres before baling. This removes the most compression-resistant component and allows tyres to collapse almost flat.
Effectiveness: Excellent for volume reduction (90-95% achievable) Practicality: Labour-intensive and slow compared to baling whole tyres Use case: Specialized operations selling high-grade rubber with minimal steel contamination
Most operations find sidewall cutting provides sufficient volume reduction improvement without the labour intensity of debeading.
Calculating the financial benefit of volume reduction requires comparing all costs: equipment, operation, transport, storage, and end-use pricing.
Base scenario: 50,000 car tyres annually
Option A: Loose stockpile (no baler)
Option B: Baled with MKII
Benefit from baling: £19,667 annually (148% improvement vs loose handling)
This breaks down as:
The volume reduction benefit compounds across storage, transport, and revenue. Equipment and operating costs are recovered multiple times over through these savings.
Environmental permits often specify maximum on-site waste quantities. Volume reduction affects permit limits.
Typical UK permit conditions:
Standard permit (small facility): Maximum 2,000 tyres on site at any time Bespoke permit (medium facility): Maximum 10,000 tyres or 100 tonnes (whichever lower) Bespoke permit (large facility): Maximum 50,000 tyres or 500 tonnes
These limits apply to all tyres regardless of form (loose or baled). But volume reduction affects site capacity:
Space-based analysis:
Available storage area: 500 m² (typical waste transfer station allocation)
Capacity with loose tyres:
Capacity with baled tyres:
Baling increases effective site capacity by 5x to 10x within the same physical footprint. This allows operations to stay under permit limits while handling higher throughput.
When applying for permits, demonstrate that baled storage:
Regulators typically view baled operations more favourably than loose stockpile sites.
Industrial tyre balers like the MKII achieve 80-85% volume reduction for car tyres, 75-82% for van tyres, and 70-80% for truck tyres (with sidewall pre-cutting). This means 1,000 car tyres occupying 40-50 m² when loose compress to 10-12 m² when baled (including access space). The exact ratio depends on tyre type, condition, and whether pre-processing is used.
Bales eliminate three sources of wasted space: (1) internal air cavities within each tyre collapse under compression, (2) air gaps between tyres disappear as they nest tightly, and (3) rectangular bale shape allows efficient stacking vs round tyres that leave voids. A 900kg bale containing 85 tyres occupies 1.0 cubic metre vs 25-30 cubic metres for the same tyres stacked loose.
No. Car tyres compress most efficiently (85-88% reduction) due to thin sidewalls and modest tread depth. Van tyres achieve 82-86%. Truck tyres require sidewall removal to reach 75-80%. Agricultural and OTR tyres must be quartered before baling and achieve 70-80% after cutting. Tyre construction (sidewall thickness, bead size, internal structure) determines compression resistance.
Slightly. Sidewall cutting improves truck tyre compression from 75% to 85%. Debeading (removing steel beads) can push reduction to 90-95%, but this is labour-intensive and rarely economical. For car tyres, 85% is near the practical maximum because rubber itself is incompressible; you’re only eliminating air voids, not compressing the material.
Dramatically. Loose tyres are volume-limited: you fill the trailer before reaching weight capacity, wasting 50-60% of payload capability. Baled tyres are weight-limited: you hit maximum payload at 80-90% of trailer volume, which is efficient. Result: 2x to 3x more tyres per lorry load. For operations moving 10,000 tyres monthly, this cuts transport frequency from 8 loads to 4 loads monthly (£14,400 annual saving at £300/load).
Approximately 96 m² total including forklift access aisles (48 m² for bales, 48 m² for access). Compare to 400-500 m² for loose storage. At £75/m² annual rental, baled storage costs £7,200 vs £30,000-£37,500 for loose (£22,800-£30,300 annual saving). Actual space depends on layout efficiency, ceiling height, and whether you stack 2-high or 3-high.
Yes, positively. Compressed bales have 80% less exposed surface area than loose tyres, which delays ignition. Reduced internal air voids limit oxygen supply, slowing combustion. Wire binding contains fire spread between bales. UK fire brigades classify baled storage as lower risk than loose stockpiles. Environmental permits typically allow larger on-site quantities when tyres are baled.
Yes. Once wire-tied, bales maintain compressed shape indefinitely. Internal friction between compressed tyres and wire tension prevent expansion. Bales stored outdoors for 5+ years show no measurable volume increase. The compression is permanent unless wires are cut (then tyres partially expand but don’t return to full original volume due to plastic deformation during compression).
Tyre baling achieves 80% to 85% volume reduction for car tyres, reducing storage requirements by three-quarters and transport frequency by half. This volume reduction delivers compounding benefits: lower storage costs (£22,000+ annually for 10,000 tyres), reduced transport costs (£6,000-£13,000 annually), improved safety (stable stacks, reduced fire risk), and better regulatory compliance (higher throughput within permit limits).
The MKII tyre baler delivers consistent volume reduction through 200 bar hydraulic pressure collapsing internal air voids and inter-tyre gaps. Pre-processing with sidewall cutters improves compression ratios for truck tyres from 75% to 85%.
Equipment cost (£40,000-£60,000) and annual operating costs (£13,000-£18,000) are recovered multiple times over through combined storage, transport, and revenue benefits. For operations processing 50,000+ tyres annually, baling delivers £15,000 to £25,000 net annual benefit after all costs.
Volume reduction transforms tyre recycling economics from loss-making or break-even operations into profitable enterprises. The space savings alone often justify investment, with transport and revenue improvements providing additional return.
Contact Gradeall to discuss volume reduction targets for your operation. We’ll calculate space savings and transport frequency reduction based on your current tyre volumes and site constraints.
* The prices and running-cost figures below are based on real UK customer examples and are correct at the time of writing, but should be treated as indicative only.
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