South Africa brings updated scrap tyre plan into law
ERJ staff report (DS)
Pretoria, South Africa - South Africa has published its revised waste tyre management plan in the official Gazett meaning that it will be implemented with immediate effect.
This updated plan will be funded through a per-kilogram levy on tyres manufactured in or imported into South Africa. The rand per-kilogram cost is determined on the basis of all operational and capital costs required to make the plan work and is currently set at R2.30/kg.
The plan has had a chequered history: The Minister approved the REDISA IIWTMP in a letter dated 15 November 2011 and published it in Gazette No 34796 of 28 November 2011. The approval of this plan was subsequently withdrawn through a notice in theGazette on 26 January 2012. The change was said to offer more opportunities for public debate after some parts of the industry complained about details of the plan.
Comments received through this process were considered and a comments and response document was prepared and submitted together with the plan to the Department on 10 February 2012. The Minister subsequently published the revised plan in the government Gazette No. 35147 of 17 April 2012 to afford the general public a period of 30 days to make further inputs on this plan. The comments received were reviewed and the plan was revised accordingly, and thus published for implementation.
South Africa produces close to 200 000 tonnes of waste pneumatic tyres annually of which only 5 percent of the waste tyre are presently utilized for grinding or recycling. Waste tyres do not compact and are therefore not welcome in landfill sites, waste tyres are either burnt for the small amount of metal that can be retrieved from them or are piling up in illegal storage sites, which spans over several very large tracks of land all over the country. These sites are a fire hazard and provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
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Press release from South African Environment Ministry
Official Announcement from South African Government Gazette
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