There are close to 12 million cars on the road in South Africa, which means thousands of old tyres need to be disposed of annually. But what happens to these ever-mounting piles of tyre waste is something that few motorists are likely to ever consider.
According to the Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa (Redisa), the country’s actual rate of discarded tyre production is significantly higher than the estimate of the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment, of 170 000 tonnes a year. Redisa estimates that South Africa produces between 253 000 and 259 000 tonnes of discarded tyres annually.
Redisa recently launched a legal challenge against the department’s industry waste tyre management plan to review and set aside the “materially flawed” plan, which it alleges “masquerades as a solution to the country’s waste tyre crisis”.
The plan, it charges, has unachievable and unrealistic targets, lacks any budgetary detail, failed to use the information and projections that were available, and was created and approved in a procedurally flawed manner.
Redisa claims that since 2017, the department has been mismanaging waste tyres, with depots filling up and becoming fire hazards, while tyre dumping is increasing. Large amounts of waste tyres are also being burned every day in the informal economy to access scrap metal, which releases toxic chemicals.
An environmental waste levy is collected by the government on every kilogramme of tyre sold — R2.30 — but “this money is clearly not being put to effective use”.
The minister has appointed an industry advisory committee (IAC) under the new plan to oversee the waste tyre sector and to advise the minister.
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