Johannesburg - Civic body Sanco and the environmental affairs department have joined forces to implement a programme to get rid of waste tyres.
This was being done in terms of the department's Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of SA (Redisa), the two parties said on Monday.
“The SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) and Redisa are partnering in the roll-out of the Redisa waste tyre plan, which will see the removal of waste tyres from the environment while creating jobs and strengthening the local recycling industry,” said Redisa CEO Hermann Erdmann.
The plan included setting up and managing a national network for collecting and temporarily storing waste tyres, delivery to recyclers, as well as supporting the development of a waste tyre recycling industry.
Putting the plan into effect would take up to five years. Redisa's integrated industry waste tyre management plan cleared its last legal challenge in the Supreme Court of Appeal on Thursday.
In January, the High Court in Pretoria ruled in favour of Redisa's plan. It found earlier that Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa was entitled to withdraw Redisa's previous plan and approve its new one.
An application was brought by the Retail Motor Industry organisation (RMI) seeking to review and set aside Molewa's decision to withdraw approval for the previous Redisa waste tyre management plan and approve the current plan.
On November 20, the RMI was granted a temporary interdict by the same court halting implementation of the previous plan. The interdict was granted pending the hearing of the RMI's main application for an order reviewing and setting aside Molewa's approval of the Redisa plan.
However, the High Court in Pretoria disagreed an interdict should have been granted in November.
Molewa had withdrawn the previous Redisa plan, then approved and gazetted the current plan for immediate implementation.
The RMI argued the withdrawal of the previous plan meant members' subscription to that plan had no legal consequence, and tyre producers would need to re-subscribe, and tyre dealers re-register with the current plan.
In terms of the waste tyre regulations, all concerned parties are required to comply with the new approved plan within 60 days of its approval.
According to Redisa, the tyre industry produces more than 10 million waste tyres every year. It is estimated that between 60 million and 100 million scrap tyres are currently stockpiled in South Africa.
Waste tyres pose an environmental problem, both as pollutants and as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and vermin.
However, there is as yet no effective technology for disposing of tyres in an environmentally friendly yet economically viable way.
Redisa will remove waste tyres from the environment by charging a levy to the manufacturer, which will effectively subsidise the collection and recycling processes. - Sapa