A levy on new tyres is expected soon to facilitate the environmentally friendly collection and disposal of millions of used tyres.
A levy on new tyres is expected soon to facilitate the environmentally friendly collection and disposal of millions of used tyres.
Local tyre manufacturers and importers prompted the initiative to address the 9,5 million used tyres that have been disposed of every year for the past 12 years. Regulations were required to ensure that tyre dealers and retreaders fed their scrap tyres into the system. Recycling these tyres would also prevent them being resold to unsuspecting buyers and merchants.
Chief executive of the SA Tyre Recycling Project Etienne Human said the department of environmental affairs and tourism was finalising amendments to the Environmental Conservation Act that would allow the levy to be imposed. The proposed regulations would then need to be published in the Government Gazette with a 30-day period allowed for comment.
“We’ve made good progress and everybody is getting ready to start the process of collection [of old tyres]. But it will take 12 months from the promulgation date before we can start collection,” Human told .
He said this was because used tyre collection points had to be set up, tenders awarded for the transport of waste tyres, transfer sites obtained for these tyres and the equipment set-up to recover rubber from the scrapped tyres.
A range of commodities could be manufactured from the recovered rubber, including mats, shoes, floor and roof tiles. Rubber could also be used in the construction of roads.
