A stretch of Glentunnel Domain Road in Selwyn District has become the site of New Zealand’s first comprehensive rubber road trial, using recycled rubber crumb sourced from end-of-life tyres as a partial substitute for bitumen in road surfacing. The project is a collaboration between Treadlite NZ, HEB Construction, and Isaac Construction, with the support of Selwyn Council and Waka Kotahi NZTA.
The trial tests three distinct surface approaches across sections of the road: rubber crumb applied over an aggregate base, a rubber-modified asphalt blend prepared by Isaac Construction, and a fully rubberised surface. Each section will be monitored for performance, durability, and maintenance requirements over time.
Why Rubber Roads Matter for New Zealand
The scale of the resource opportunity is significant. More than six million tyres reach the end of their useful life in New Zealand every year. At the same time, the country imports nearly 180,000 tonnes of bitumen annually to surface and maintain its road network. Substituting 15% of that bitumen with tyre-derived rubber crumb would consume roughly half of all the tyres currently discarded each year.
Rubber-modified asphalt is not a new idea internationally — tyre crumb has been incorporated into road surfaces in other countries since the 1970s, with documented benefits including improved skid resistance, reduced road noise, better crack resistance in cold conditions, and longer pavement life. The New Zealand trial is the most comprehensive local test of whether those benefits translate to local conditions and traffic patterns.
What Contractors and Councils Should Watch
For road contractors and territorial authorities, the Selwyn trial will generate the local performance data that is needed before rubber-modified asphalt can be specified with confidence on the New Zealand network. If the surface performs as international evidence suggests, it opens the door to a material that simultaneously addresses tyre waste, reduces bitumen import dependency, and may extend maintenance intervals on rural roads.
Monitoring will continue across the trial sections over multiple seasons, with results informing any future specification work by Waka Kotahi and councils considering wider adoption.
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