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Tools for local and regional councils: tyre storage and enforcement options

Investigations undertaken for the Ministry for the Environment recommended that councils be given additional tools for the management of tyre storage and dumping, including:

  • the use of district plans to restrict numbers of tyres that might be stored on private properties. Restrictions could relate to factors such as location, separation distances and maximum size.
  • more effective mechanisms for policing and preventing tyre dumping on public and private property, including tighter penalties under the Litter Act, and support for an industry code of practice to transporters (now addressed through Tyre Track)
  • the potential to use tyre monofills as a way of stockpiling tyres for future use.

[The Firecone Report, p3]

In response to these recommendations, the Ministry has had the following work undertaken:

Tyre Storage

Work on tyre storage was commissioned to assist councils wanting to include provisions in district plans, or considering resource consent applications. The MWH New Zealand report, End-of-Life Tyre Management: Storage Options reviews international literature on tyre storage and identifies best practice in relation to issues such as leachate, and fire and financial risks. The study finds consistency in approach to above-ground storage internationally, in relation to site preparation and management, maximum tyre pile dimensions, separation distances and access to water supply.

However, the study also suggests that stockpiling tyres above ground or in soil-covered monofills is not a practical option. Retrieving and cleaning tyres packed in soil is likely to be uneconomic in the foreseeable future, and above-ground storage of large piles constitutes a fire risk.

Enforcement action under the Resource Management Act

The Ministry has produced an enforcement guide that identifies a number of options for councils seeking to take action against tyre dumping under the Resource Management Act 1991.

National Environmental Standards

The Ministry for the Environment has also introduced National Environmental Standards, one of which bans activities that release unacceptable amounts of dioxins and other toxins into the air - such as the open burning of tyres.

Last updated: 17 September 2007