New Zealand To Launch National Tire Recycling

Tyrewise, New Zealand’s first nationwide program for recycling used tires, set to launch in 2023, aims to recycle the country’s 6.5 million end-of-life tires each year. The government is contributing $1.2 million to Tyrewise, which will be run by the non-profit group Auto Stewardship NZ (ASNZ).

Tire collectors, manufacturers, car companies and motor industry associations are working together to make the scheme as effective as possible, ASNZ chair Mark Gilbert, said.

Currently, New Zealand’s tire waste disposal systems are “really immature and not structured property”, he said.

One discrepancy is the cost of getting rid of a used tire, which varies depending on where you are in the country.

Under the Tyrewise plan, each tire coming into New Zealand will incur a fee to be collected by Customs and added to a fund used to establish innovative new uses for end-of-life tires.

Some tires will be supplied to innovative companies that are already using recycled rubber, such as Golden Bay Cement, but ASNZ is interested in other opportunities, too.

Adding rubber to New Zealand roads is one, but due to current transport agency contracts, that’s at least seven years away, Gilbert said.

“Once regulations for the scheme are enacted, Tyrewise will run one of the first regulated product stewardship schemes in New Zealand, ” Minister for the Environment, David Parker, said.

© Scrap Tire News, August 2022