Waste tyres dumped in landfill by company paid millions to recycle

Saturday, 12 May 2018

Tyres being legitimately prepared for being trucked to the recycling depot on Thursday May 10.

Waste tyres have been dumped into landfill by a company that received millions in government funding to create a recycling solution.

A truck contracted by Waste Management was tailed on Tuesday carting a load of shredded tyres from the Kerepihi tyre yard to a Waste Management-operated landfill.

Waste Management national manager Marsha Cadman said the firm had stopped dumping tyres into landfill due to its new tyre-processing plant in Wiri, funded by a $3.8 million Waste Minimisation Fund grant, now being operational.

The grant was awarded to Pacific Rubber in 2015 and Waste Management took over the funding when they purchased the company last year.

**READ MORE:

* NZ's tyre mountains keep growing

Car tyres before and after shredding at the Waste Management transfer station in south Auckland.

* Dumping a risk as tyres piling up across Hamilton

* Tyre recycling in a roundabout way**

The money was to be used to commission a tyre-processing machine in Wiri.

Cadman said, prior to the commissioning of the Wiri recycling plant, a small amount of tyres were dumped in landfill during commissioning. Exact numbers were not provided.

'During commissioning, tyres were being shredded and disposed to landfill in order to meet consent conditions,' Cadman said.

'The facility is now fully commissioned, and the site has met all consent conditions, meaning this is no longer happening.'

Cadman did not say whether the truck tailed by Stuff was disposing of tyres to meet consent conditions.

Trucks heading to landfill laden with tyres.

Insiders and former employees of Waste Management claim thousands of tonnes of tyres have ended up in landfill.

Waste Management made a commitment to clear the estimated 3 - 5 million tyres stored at the Kerepehi tyre by June 2018 with truck load after truck load being removed and taken up to Auckland to be shredded.

It is not known what percentage of this tyre mountain ended up going into landfill.

Associate Environment Minister, Eugenie Sage said there was nothing illegal about tyres being dumped in landfill but solutions need to be found for the growing tyre problem.

'Presently, it is estimated that up to 70 percent of end of life tyres are being sent to landfill, stockpiled or illegally dumped, rather than cycling back into beneficial use.'

She said Waste Management had been a constructive partner to the Ministry for the Environment. The first of two processing plants is due to open soon.

'When Waste Management's proposed processing facilities are complete at the end of the three-year project the company would be able to process around 30,000 tonnes per annum, which is roughly 3 million of the more than 5 million used tyres that New Zealand produces each year.'

A truck is seen being loaded with shredded tyres and driven to a nearby landfill on May 8, 2018.

Former employee Tara Larking believed the company's actions went against the spirit of the Waste Minimisation Fund and environmental ideals of Bridgestone who contract Waste Management to collect tyres.

'Bridgestone does not want their tyres ending up in landfill,' she said.

'I didn't think what they are doing is right,' she said. 'A lot of employees wanted to speak up about where the tyres were ending up but we never felt we had a voice. It was just a case of having to do your job.'

An informed source said the arrangement with Bridgestone was clear about not wanting tyres to end up in landfill.

'They are paying money to have tyres disposed of and it was clear they want tyres to be recycled,' they said.

'They were clear that bales of tyres are not to be exported and people need to know where the waste tyres end up. I know some contractors collecting tyres for Waste Management subcontract out the job again so there is no way anyone will know for certain where all these used tyres have ended up.'

Waste Management said they do allow contractors to subcontract.

Across New Zealand tyres disposed of illegally have become a major problem due to the inherit safety risks.

Waste tyres can also leach heavy metals.

Waste Management would not comment on their contract with Bridgestone for confidentiality reasons.

Bridgestone Australia and New Zealand managing director Andrew Moffatt said end of life tyre management is a major consideration for the company.

'Bridgestone requests that supplier disposal of end-of-life tyres is done so in a responsible manner and strongly encourages recycling and repurposing where possible within supplier capabilities,' he said.

'Bridgestone has been working towards a solution for end-of-life tyres for many years and is working closely with Waste Management New Zealand to develop a viable infrastructure for the responsible disposal and recycling of waste tyres.

'Unfortunately, New Zealand as a country is lagging behind other developed countries on the issue of waste tyre management and recycling.

'We at Bridgestone are hopeful that the New Zealand Government will support the recommendations made by Tyrewise several years ago and see the expansion of tyre recycling capabilities in New Zealand.'

In Canada an association was established to find solutions to their growing tyre problem. In 2016 the Canadian Association of Tire Recycling Agencies reported an almost 100 per cent diversion rate of waste tyres into byproducts like roading material and tyre-derived fuel. In total they collected 386,035 tonnes of tyres in 2016.