"We know that there are huge volumes of waste tyres out there, but we don’t have a great take on just how many there are, and, more importantly, where they all end up. It is time that we had a proper database on this waste stream and I believe the new system that my Department has agreed with the tyre industry will effectively address that deficiency"
John Gormley, Irish Minister for the Environment
New regulations on waste tyres aimed at more recycling, were signed by Irish Minister for the Environment John Gormley yesterday.
The new scheme establishes an industry based tracking system for thousands of waste tyres and starts on 1 January 2008
The Waste Management (Tyres and Waste Tyres) Regulations 2007 will keep a tab on the movement of tyres between producers, retailers and waste tyre collectors.
Around 35,000 tonnes of waste tyres are produced annually from the 3m tyres sold nationally.
The Tyre Recovery Activity Compliance Scheme (TRACS) will be funded by participating tyre industry stakeholders in line with other producer responsibility schemes.
John Gormley said:
“We know that there are huge volumes of waste tyres out there, but we don’t have a great take on just how many there are, and, more importantly, where they all end up. It is time that we had a proper database on this waste stream and I believe the new system that my Department has agreed with the tyre industry will effectively address that deficiency.
The new Regulations place obligations on persons who supply tyres to the Irish market, whether as manufacturers, wholesalers, suppliers, traders, or retailers and on the collectors of waste tyres. However exemptions are available to persons who participate in a voluntary compliance scheme operated by an approved body.
TRACS
Under the negotiated agreement, the ITIA have established the Tyre Recovery Activity Compliance Scheme (TRACS). A network of producers, retailers and waste tyre collectors operate in the industry and the role of TRACS will be to audit the movement of tyres between the different parties involved.
Minister Gormley continued:
“The improved regulatory framework for waste tyre management will support the tyre industry’s tracking initiative which proposes not only to track the movement of tyres from when they are placed on the market until sold to end users, but more importantly to trace waste tyres from the time they are discarded until they are either reused or processed for recycling or reuse.
The Regulations impose obligations on persons who supply tyres to the Irish market, whether as manufacturers, wholesalers, suppliers, traders, or retailers and on the collectors of waste tyres. An exemption from these obligations is available to persons who participate in a voluntary compliance scheme operated by an approved body.
Tyre crumb used to create a sports pitch (Photo: Hambleton DC)
Uses for used tyres
There is a wide range of uses for post consumer tyres. Tyre crumb can be used on playgrounds, as equine bedding or on football pitches.
Steel recovered from tyres is also a valuable resource. Tyres can also be “reused” through their retreading with knock on savings, e.g. a retreaded truck tyre requires only 33% of the oil utilised in manufacturing a new one, a saving of up to 56 litres each time a truck tyre is retreaded, according to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
Tyres are also of use to the farming community to anchor silage cover and at marinas as boat fenders. These re-uses do not involve further treatment.
The Minister added:
“There is scope for the beneficial use of waste tyres for applications such as in farming activities. Therefore the regulations allow farmers, who require waste tyres to anchor silage covering, to store up to eight waste tyres for every square metre of the floor area of their silage pit, without the need to have a waste permit”.