6 Overseas experience
In the majority of developed countries, governments have implemented some form of financial or regulatory measure to intervene in the used-tyre market and ensure that EoL tyres are diverted from landfills and reused. In the United States more than 35 states have tyre recovery schemes in place and, in 2003, 80.4% of waste tyres were reused. [URS Australia 2005.] In the European Union (EU) whole tyres have been banned from landfills since 2003 and shredded tyres will be banned from July 2006. Across all of the EU states, more than 73.5% of tyres were diverted from landfill in 2003. This result is attributable to a successful tyre recovery schemes funded by a tyre levy. In most cases, the levy is applied at the point of manufacture and the funds used subsidise collection and transport of the used tyres. In comparison to New Zealand, the volume and relatively concentrated nature of EoL tyres could be ensuring the economic viability of reuse schemes.
The following policies or initiatives are used internationally, and have been used to help develop recommendations arising from this report.
- General facilitation:
- education, information, research and marketing strategies;
- establishment of advisory bodies;
- encouraging the creation of advisory bodies by stakeholders.
- Enhanced regulatory requirements:
- banning of whole tyres in landfills;
- permitting only shredded (not quartered) tyres in landfills;
- specific storage standards for tyre mono-fills;
- limits on the maximum number of tyres in any one-tyre pile site;
- limits on the maximum number of tyres on any one property;
- storage requirements for outdoor tyre piles (security, shielding from public view, pile size limits, berms, fire control provisions and fire breaks).
- Strengthened compliance mechanisms:
- registration of all tyre collectors, shredders and tyre piles;
- documentation of movement of tyres through the supply chain;
- accreditation of scrap-pile operators and processors;
- heavy fines for illegal dumping;
- promulgation of industry standards for storage and processing;
- making it compulsory for retailers to accept EoL tyres (takeback schemes).
- Subsidisation of collection, storage, or transformation:
- tax credits;
- low-cost loans;
- central government grants;
- payment per tonne of tyres recycled;
- budgeted funds for site clean-ups;
- increased industry responsibility;
- voluntary or mandated industry bodies responsible for managing the system.
- Broader measures to reduce supply (not as relevant to this study as it focuses on disposal):
- improve tyre life (ie, measures to improve tyre quality and consumer education such as correct inflation);
- reduce vehicle mileage (ie, enhance public transport options);
- improve the retread rate.
Of these approaches, the most popular overseas appears to be a mix of tyre levies (to support the economic attractiveness of reuse alternatives) and support for the development of viable end-use alternatives. To date, the most popular end-uses are either large-scale tyre burning as a fuel source for cement kilns and simple civil engineering uses, such as erosion control structures. The details, size and implementation of the waste levies are beyond the scope of this analysis.
Appendix C provides an overview of the findings of the international research.
