The Tyre Product Stewardship Scheme set to launch from July 1 will undertake a mission to raise awareness of Australia’s lamentable lack of commitment to tyre recycling.
Our record to date has been poor – and it’s worsening all the time, according to Tyre Stewardship Australia Chairman, Gerry Morvell.
“Over 48 million tyres are being added to the waste stream each year. It is an issue that can only be addressed in a structured, transparent and well-coordinated manner. Tyre Stewardship Australia creates the means to meet this challenge,” Morvell was quoted as saying in a press release issued earlier this week. Out of that figure of 48 million tyres, only around 16 per cent are recycled in Australia, according to the TSA.
The Tyre Product Stewardship Scheme is supported by tyre brands Continental, Goodyear-Dunlop, Michelin, Pirelli, Toyo and Yokohama, and is backed also by the Australian Motor Industry Federation, the Minerals Council of Australia, and federal and state governments.
According to TSA, the Tyre Product Stewardship Scheme has three main tasks ahead of it: educate industry and consumers, find new uses for recycled tyres, and “eradicate dirty, unsafe and illegal practices” by means of independent auditing. Funding for the scheme will cost the consumer 25 cents for each new tyre purchased.
Morvell says that the Tyre Product Stewardship Scheme grew out of the “contraction” of the local tyre recycling industry. The number of old tyres exported to emerging nations where they are burned as fuel for power generation has doubled during the past seven years. It’s bad for the global environment and it weakens the efforts and sustainability of the recycling industry in Australia.
“Participation in the Tyre Product Stewardship Scheme will ensure that this trend is reversed. It will lead to the ongoing development of new manufacturing processes, new job opportunities and entirely new industries that utilise the recycled tyre feedstock,” says Morvell.
TSA proposes adoption of an “end-of-life” tyre management process for accredited service providers subject to auditing. The accredited participants would receive the full support of TSA and its members, including TSA-branded signage at every outlet.
Source: Motoring.com.au
