On June 24th, the Waste Bureau was invited to attend a webinar—organised by TEPA—to address key issues being experienced by TEPA members. During the session, the Waste Bureau took questions from dealers around poor service delivery in some parts of the country and advised how they are planning to tackle these deficiencies. SA TREADS was there.
At the beginning of June, Minister of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), Dr. Dion George, threw out the latest version of the Waste Tyre Management Plan (4.5 years in the making), citing inadequacies pertaining to the different tyre categories, which he believed were not equally being addressed in the current plan. He emphasised that the plan did not make full provision for all waste tyres in their totality, explaining that when it comes to processing waste tyres, processors currently are only able to accept radial truck tyres. Passenger and 4×4 tyres are being sent to three cement kilns to process for fuel, but there is currently no market for OTR tyres, which, due to size and complexity, likely require some degree of pre-processing before gaining acceptance by waste tyre processors.
Industry was requested to go back to the drawing board and to present a stronger plan that outlines an all-encompassing solution. DFFE explained the intention was not for this to become an elongated process, but for the final Waste Tyre Management Plan to be one that is sustainable and fully inclusive.
In the meantime, the Waste Bureau remains solely responsible for waste tyre collection and disposal, a role it assumed in 2012. By the Bureau’s own admission, the service they are currently providing the various collection points around the country stands at around 30-40 percent, attributing this, in the main, to collection points disposing of their scraps with transporters not registered with the Bureau.
They stressed the importance for all collection points to be registered with the Bureau in order to speed up collections, prevent illegal dumping, and limit environmental damage.
“This is the right thing to do,’’ they said, “not only because it is a legal requirement, but also because it is only by entering the Bureau’s formal plan that these various collection points can be serviced.’’
They added that registration is quick and easy, and that once registered, a collection point would have instant access to a regional coordinator they could approach in the event of poor service delivery.
Once the webinar opened up for questions, some dealers pointed out that although they had personally registered with the Bureau, collections were slow at best.
“We are struggling to dispose of our waste tyres,” said one dealer based in North Western Province. “Collections are sporadic at best, plus when the transporters do arrive, they refuse to take away any casings that are deformed.”
“We are experiencing similar issues,” added another dealer from Limpopo.
Vishal Premlall, SAPRA and TEPA National Director, urged dealers being affected by these practices to use the TEPA Whistleblower line (anonymously, if preferred) and to report any such suspicious behaviour by the transporters. Equally, DFFE asked that any suspicious practices of this kind be reported to the Bureau for further investigation.
Yet another delegate affected by poor service delivery alongside issues surrounding the noncollection of deformed casings claimed he had emailed his regional coordinator about this, to no avail.
MUTILATION OF TYRES
Of course, the easiest way to ensure all scrap tyres are collected would be for collection points to adhere to the waste tyre regulations, which call for all waste tyres to be mutilated, to avoid them filtering back into the market. But, for the most part, due to resource challenges and other constraints, this is not happening. And similarly, even though transporters should only be collecting waste tyres that have been mutilated, this too, is not the case.
“For the time being, we want to stress the importance of registering with the Bureau,” DFFE replied. “Mutilation is an important element to the process, but at this point, the number of tyres being collected would be a lot less if the transporters were strictly sticking to this. In due course, we will be facilitating discussions on how to go about stimulating a greater degree of compliance with regards to tyre mutilation.”
Another dealer voiced concern over the non-collection of OTR tyres on his premises and was advised by DFFE to contact his regional coordinator for personal assistance.
“We acknowledge the mining sector is under-serviced and are currently in discussions on how to address the backlog of OTR tyres with the mines and the Mining Council,” they said.
While the Waste Bureau is clearly grappling to deliver the desired service levels, there is clearly a willingness on their part to make improvements and to address some of the inefficiencies within the system, which was encouraging to note.
Collaboration between industry and the Bureau is strong, thanks largely to the efforts of TEPA, who have been working tirelessly to strengthen relationships with government, in the interests of all parties.
In the short term, until such time as an independent Waste Tyre Management Plan is approved and implemented, abiding by the Bureau’s requirements and making full use of their existing resources and systems is the only way forward.
- Ensure you are registered with the Bureau.
- Make use of their regional coordinators and/or senior management if your issues are not being addressed satisfactorily.
- Service delivery issues can also be channeled via TEPA, who are there to assist any of their members grappling with collections.
A revised list of the Bureau’s regional contacts, together with how your complaint can be escalated, will be distributed in the near future.
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