Getting ready for launch

Tyrewise is the co-designed regulated product stewardship programme for end-of-life tyres (ELTs). Tyres have been declared as a priority product under the provisions of the Waste Minimisation Act 2008. Tyrewise will provide for the nationwide resource recovery of end-of-life tyres in New Zealand.

Tyrewise is the mechanism by which importers take responsibility for the environmental impact of their product, end-of-life tyres. This is known as Extended Producer Responsibility or more commonly in New Zealand, product stewardship.

Tyrewise doesn’t relieve importers of their responsibility, rather it challenges and supports them to reduce harm to the environment by helping to create a circular economy solution for tyres and drive change through the supply chain in line with the waste hierarchy.

Not only have Importers been part of the Working Group co-designing the scheme, critically they will pay the levy at first point of import which funds Tyrewise from its commencement date. Importers also contribute their knowledge and expertise through Technical Advisory Groups which support Tyrewise to achieve its aims.

Regulated product stewardship is when regulations are used to:

– increase circular resource use;
– place responsibilities for managing end-of-life products on producers, importers and retailers rather than on communities, councils, neighbourhoods and nature.

Regulated (or mandatory) product stewardship generally starts when a product is declared a priority product under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 by the Minister for the Environment. If the Minister declares a product to be a priority product, it allows additional steps to be taken to manage its environmental effects. For example, regulations can be developed that place restrictions on the production, sale, or disposal of the product. Guidelines that any product stewardship scheme must follow can also be established.

Tyres were declared a priority product in 2020. As a result, regulated product stewardship is being implemented to improve the environmental impact of end-of-life tyres.

You can read more about priority product and regulated product stewardship on the Ministry for the Environment website.

End-of-life tyres represent a huge potential resource that is lost when they are dumped, stockpiled or enter landfill. A stewardship scheme means that everyone who imports or distributes tyres must participate equally, and that as a consumer, you can be certain that when you pay for a new tyre, that tyre will be responsibly managed within the scheme so its resources are recovered.

The negative environmental and economic impact of end-of-life tyres which are not disposed of appropriately is well documented. Tyrewise will minimise the environmental impacts of end-of-life tyres by stewarding the tyre from collection through to processing thereby reducing the incidences of greenhouse gases from tyre fires, reducing toxicity of leachate from stockpiles, and reducing waste to landfill. It will also bring positive economic impacts by supporting new markets for tyre derived products and creating jobs in processing and end market development. The programme supports the circular solution for end-of-life tyres in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The programme has been designed against ISO 14001 Environmental Standards and will be audited annually to ensure a robust system to meet environmental targets

Auto Stewardship New Zealand (ASNZ) is the Product Stewardship Organisation (PSO) responsible for Tyrewise.

3R Group are the project managers for the Implementation Project.

Both ASNZ and 3R Group continue to work with the stakeholder Working Group representatives of the original scheme design working group.

Auto Stewardship New Zealand (ASNZ) is a not-for-profit charitable trust which is the Product Stewardship Organisation (PSO) for Tyrewise. It will work as an umbrella organisation for stewardship of all aspects of “autos” including and beyond tyres.

As the PSO for Tyrewise, ASNZ is the entity designated to administer the product stewardship programme. It is a governance function responsible for:
– receiving aggregated product data and financial reports,
– providing oversight of the scheme on behalf of participating brand owners or supply chain,
– awarding and monitoring commercial contracts for service delivery;
– setting strategic plans and auditing against these;
– managing the use of funds against the purpose, mission and vision of the scheme;
– and working with advisory groups which may be set up from time to time for the betterment of the scheme.

The Tyrewise Working Group (TWG) is a coalition of representatives from importers of tyres loose and on vehicles, garages and generators of tyres, collection and processors of end-of-life tyres and consumer representatives who came together to develop a stewardship programme for ELTs. These stakeholders hold a mandate making clear their responsibility and authority to act on behalf of the entity they represent.

The working group along with technical advisory groups will continue to act in an advisory group capacity to Project Managers 3R Group through the Implementation Project.

The Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs) act as a sounding board for Auto Stewardship NZ Trustees (the Product Stewardship Organisation or PSO) and the project manager(s). They provide specialist advice on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that Tyrewise will be measured against throughout the implementation project and eventually on through the operational launch.  The TAGs must be representative of the supply chain and will include a mix of large corporates to small entities, including non-for-profit organisations.

There will be six TAGs set up for Tyrewise.

Tyrewise product stewardship programme is expected to begin operating in late 2023.

Click here for the Implementation Project timeline.

The Ministry for the Environment consulted on the proposed regulations in December 2021 and these can be found on Page 44 and 45 of this document. Ministry for the Environment have taken submitters’ feedback into consideration and will announce decisions on regulations for tyres in late 2022.

No. The Advanced Disposal Fee replaces any environmental management or disposal fee charged by a tyre retailer to the consumer for an old tyre, when they purchase a new tyre. The Advanced Disposal Fee is fixed wherever you are in New Zealand or from whom you purchase a tyre, and there cannot be any additional charge for stewardship of an end-of-life tyre charged by the tyre retailer to the consumer.

The General Guidelines for Product Stewardship Schemes for Priority Products Notice 2020 sets a series of expectations that the scheme must meet to represent the interests of producers and consumers of the priority product and the wider community as informed by stakeholder advisory groups. In addition, through the co-design process with industry and stakeholders, a number of scheme requirements were recommended to ensure that the scheme could meet its targets and these formed part of the accreditation of the regulated scheme.

If you are interested in becoming a registered collection site, transporter or processor, click here.

In order to be paid by a regulated product stewardship scheme, participants must register with the scheme and agree to act in accordance with the scheme’s requirements.

The Tyrewise scheme is expected to be fully operational late 2023. There is approximately 12 months of work to get the scheme ready to be operational which is happening now.

View the Tyrewise Implementation Project Timeline.

Resource recovery parks / sites are places where consumers are already practiced at dropping off unwanted resources for future recovery. Some resource recovery sites will expand their offering to act as collection sites for tyres from consumers. This will be dependent upon their site conditions and who else in the proximity is offering a collection service.

Email Tyrewise and include some brief information about your solution and we will be in touch.

Local government authorities are primarily responsible for managing land use and associated environmental effects relating to end-of-life tyres.

When Tyrewise is operational, it will be responsible for ensuring that end-of-life tyres aren’t stockpiled to the point where the problem has become large and intervention by local government is required.

This stewardship activity will be supported by the Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Storing Tyres Outdoors) Regulations 2021

If there is a tyre stockpile you are concerned about, either:
a) report it to your local regional council or
b) send us an email at info@tyrewise.co.nz