How recycled tyre rubber can help with urban flood management
Tuesday, 24 February 2026
Recycled tyre rubber can play a key role in tackling flood management and rising urban heat, according to a company that aims to “solve tomorrow’s water challenges today”.
New Zealand owned company Watersmart is using recycled end-of-life tyres to create a paving product that it says has permeability of eight to 10 times more than international guidelines.
That meant the product, known as Porous Lane, could absorb 3.5 centimetres of water per second, and had a porosity of about 50%.
Watersmart co-founder and managing director Andrew Olsen said the permeability mitigated many of the issues associated with traditional paving, including localised surface flooding.
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It allowed water to soak directly through the pavement into the ground below, reducing surface flooding and easing pressure on stormwater networks, he said.
“This also helps cool urban environments and support tree roots and healthy soil systems. It transforms hard, heat-retaining city surfaces into working climate infrastructure that manages water where it falls.”
And it was taking old tyres that had just been a waste stream up until now, and using them in a positive way as an example of true circular economy, he said.
While the product was developed by the University of Melbourne, Watersmart manufactures it in New Zealand with up to 60% locally sourced recycled tyre rubber.
For every square metre of paving laid about about three tyres were diverted from landfill, the company estimated.
Watersmart business development manager Klaudia Matyjas said there were about seven million old tyres in New Zealand, and there was currently a big push to use the recycled rubber in products for infrastructure such as pavements, tree beds and cycle lanes.
Permeable paving products were not new, but Porous Lane had some unique features, she said.
They included its high porosity, which also made it easier to maintain than alternatives, and a strong binder that removed urban pollutants, such as heavy metals and microplastics, from the water making the environment cleaner.
The rubber component did not crack over tree root movements, so it would not create trip hazards, and would not have to be replaced after four or five years like traditional surfacing, Matyjas said.
“It is lower carbon, and can offer up to 79% reduction in the carbon footprint compared to concrete, and a 45% reduction compared to asphalt.
“Building pavements that are more porous and permeable also reduces the heat island effect by about 3 to 4 degrees, which is important when looking at the densification of communities around New Zealand.”
There was a lot of interest from developers in the product, but it was councils where uptake was strongest, and that was to growing interest in water sensitive urban design, she said.
“One interesting figure I’ve seen is that every dollar invested in infrastructure preventing flooding right now will save about $4 in recovery costs moving forward.
“That's a big driver to councils and government and insurers and asset owners because it may be expensive to replace surfaces now, but in 20 years it will be more expensive to do flood prevention around those areas.
“So turning driveways, car parks, footpaths, and cycle lanes from something that used to create a problem into something that is an active solution to these problems is a really big shift that we're seeing.”
Some examples of where the product had been used were in tree pit surrounds along Mayoral Drive in central Auckland, as part of a landscape in the Auckland Botanic Gardens, as a coastal footpath at a reserve in Auckland’s Devonport, and some footpaths in a Hamilton subdivision.
Olsen said the product did cost more per square metre than concrete or asphalt, but it was well-priced compared to other permeable products, and was about five to 10 times more effective.
They were working to build up good data around cost benefits, and every job the company did now looked at what the alternative would have cost if the product had not been used, he said.
“But having a higher upfront cost becomes irrelevant because over its lifetime with lower maintenance and better performance and actual impact on the overall infrastructure space, it becomes an economic no-brainer.”
The introduction of the product into the New Zealand market was in the early stages, but they had invested ahead of the curve, Olsen added.
“So I wouldn't want to share the numbers as such but we're anticipating that within three to five years it should be a $10 to 15 million dollar product to add to the business per annum.”
Treadlite a nationwide tyre collection and recycling company, provides the rubber granules for the product.
The company’s director, Blake Richardson, said New Zealand now had a comprehensive collection and recycling system, but a shortage of domestic applications for those products.
“Porous Lane allows us to take tyre rubber that would otherwise be exported and turn it into something that delivers genuine environmental and social value.”