Bay plan to recycle dumped tyres
BATTLING with a massive tyre dumping problem and no concrete plans to deal with it, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality will finally sign an agreement with a non-profit organisation to recycle used tyres on its behalf.
The news comes more than a year after Bay tyre companies were forced to pay millions of rands each month to the Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa (Redisa), even though it had not yet started getting rid of the waste.
In a report to the council's public health portfolio committee, which met on Friday, acting executive director Andile Tolom said about 11 million tyres were dumped every year in the country.
Municipalities had "no plans in place to deal with the disposal of used tyres [and] some landfills refuse to dispose of used tyres", he said. "As a result, used tyres have been disposed of in a haphazard way, at times stockpiled and burnt.
"The behaviour will result in serious long-term environmental consequences," Tolom said.
Councillors gave the municipality the go-ahead to enter into a memorandum of agreement with Redisa to deal with the tyre-dumping problem on its behalf.
Officials just need the green light from the mayoral committee and council before signing the agreement.
Redisa will construct a tyre storage facility in the Bay and it is expected to start recycling tyres later this year. Last year, tyre giants Continental Tyre South Africa complained that it was forking out millions of rands every month in waste tyre management fees to Redisa, while at the same time still having to pay a waste management company to dispose of its scrap and reject tyres.
Continental's managing director, Dieter Horni, who is also chairman of the SA Tyre Manufacturers' Conference, said at the time he was unhappy with the slow implementation of the project, which is an initiative of the Department of Environmental Affairs. Tyre manufacturers and importers of new tyres pay a waste tyre management fee of R2.30 a kilogramme of tyres imported or produced to Redisa.
On Friday, Horni welcomed the move to finally get Redisa operational. "This is what Redisa is meant to do and what we have been waiting a long time for. It would help if they could also involve the tyre industry, as we have all the necessary experience and 50% of the country's tyre industry is based in the metro," Horni said. Redisa director Stacey Davidson said the non-profit organisation had accredited transporters in the Eastern Cape, focusing on Port Elizabeth during the initial stages, and that pickups had already started from tyre dealers.
Collections were also currently being done at Volkswagen Group South Africa and General Motors South Africa, he said.
"In order to roll out in a larger area covering the whole of the Eastern Cape by the end of 2015, discussions are under way between Redisa and the [Bay municipality] to establish transfer depots.
"A waste tyre processor has been accredited and approved by Redisa and it is envisaged that operations will commence towards the latter part of 2014," Davidson said.
The first Redisa depots opened in February in Midrand, Johannesburg, and the depots serve as hubs for the delivery of waste tyres collected across the surrounding areas. The aim is to reduce tyre waste in landfills and dumpsites.
Davidson said about 1500 jobs would be created this year, with Redisa aiming to have about 10000 jobs in place by 2017. - Cindy Preller and Rochelle de Kock
