A new disposal scheme “will do nothing to stem the stockpiles of illegally-dumped tyres around the country” when it comes into effect next month, the State’s two main tyre industry bodies have said.
The Irish Tyre Industry Association (ITIA) and the Independent Tyre Wholesalers and Retailers Association (ITWRA) claimed absence of enforcement was the main failing of the plan, "just as it was with a similar scheme in the past".
A €1 million fund to help local authorities remove the blight of dumped stockpiles, estimated to total 750,000 end-of-life tyres, was announced by Minister for the Environment Denis Naughten last month.
The move was in advance of a mandatory disposal regime to be applied to tyre wholesalers and retailers from October 1st next, details of which he also announced.
"The Government has failed to learn the lessons of the past with this new regime," said ITIA president Paddy Murphy. "The past tells us that while formulating a tyre-collection programme is one thing. policing it is quite another.
Take fright
“With no additional enforcement resources being allocated to already-stretched local authorities, no offending waste collector is going to take fright at what is proposed here.”
A scheme set up by the industry in 2007 achieved more than 90 per cent compliance among tyre producers and retailers, but it did not have control over the issuing of licences to waste collectors.
“The issue is about securing compliance among waste collectors, and that won’t happen without significant enforcement,” Mr Murphy said.
He said tyre operators in the North “do not need to be registered for the scheme, thus gaining a competitive advantage over their counterparts in the South”.
“This market distortion will force operators in the South into non-compliance just to survive – safe in the knowledge that enforcement will be toothless in any case.”
On-the-spot fines
The groups called on the Government to enact on-the-spot fines as part of the scheme. They are looking to manage their own waste stream by setting up an industry-led scheme along the lines of successful producer responsibility initiatives in Europe. However, under the provisions set out, such a parallel programme must await the establishment of the proposed scheme, and must charge fees as set by the regulations.
