Tyrewise regularly reports to the Ministry for the Environment on the objectives, outcomes and targets in its operational delivery plan. The report is broken down by Milestone, with the first period covering Milestone 0 (implementation) and the first operational month of Milestone 1
This reporting period is a bit of an odd one, as it covers two months before Tyrewise was operational (July and August), one month of operations (September), and our expectations for October. You can read a lot more detail in the report itself, but here are some of the highlights.
Objective 1: Transparent and accurate reporting of tyre movements and financial transactions
During this reporting period we did the final testing of the Tyrewise software and released it to all users. It’s now tracking the movement of tyres as intended, including sending data to a dashboard on the Tyrewise website.
The system also sends payment information for transporters, processors, and manufacturers through to the accounts software for approval and payment.
Improvements and bug fixes to the software will continue to be carried out regularly.
Objective 2: Tyre transportation volumes and the tyre collection network
In the first four weeks of operation in September, the software recorded over 3,500 jobs, collecting 384,000 tyres, weighing in at 4,200 tonnes. These numbers have now been well exceeded, as the live data on the Tyrewise website now shows more than 1 million tyres collected.
At the time of reporting, the tyre collection network was made up of 14 transport companies across all regions of the motu. The tyre take back network was made up of:
- 2570 Tyre retailer / fitters
- 132 Fleet owner/operators
- 89 Vehicle scrap dealers
- 60 Public collection sites
Objective 3: Tyre processing volumes
No eligible claims for processing had been received for the period the report covered. This was to be expected, as processors and manufacturers were still working through their stock from prior to September. Up to date information on claims can be seen on the Tyrewise dashboard.
We have identified gaps in capacity in the South Island, and that capacity for large off-road-tyres is currently limited. We expect that over time incentives for processing and direct scheme investment will improve this.
Objective 4: Accurate budget estimation, spending and forecasting
The spending allocations for Tyrewise are broken down as a percentage of the $6.65 EPU. 54% of the EPU is budgeted for transporter payments, with the next biggest chunk, 23%, allocated to processing. If any spending is 15% over or under the estimated budget allocation, this needs to be explained. We will report on this after 31 December.
Objective 5: Market growth and investment strategy
There are no specific targets for this period, because we are still establishing a market baseline.
This report lists seven processors and one manufacturer (end user) as registered partners. (repeated below)
Verified foreign end markets will remain part of the solution as we develop more local markets.
One of the biggest market growth opportunities for end-of-life tyres is for use in roading. We have contracted WSP to update a previous report that will help us develop this market. A technical advisory group will be exploring this opportunity.
We have received applications for the assessment of two proposed processing and manufacturing plants (not yet operational).
Objective 6: Participant Awareness / satisfaction
Before the regulations came into effect, we directly contacted over 4,000 organisations we believed would be impacted, as well as advertising in automative industry media and on radio.
In this reporting period we distributed posters and counter cards to registered partners to support participants’ conversations with customers. We also continued our public facing media campaign to raise awareness of the tyre stewardship fee Kiwis are paying when they buy tyres, and what it’s used for.
Support channels July to September
- 5,032 Service desk tickets received
- 4,991 Service desk tickets resolved
- 3,281 Calls to 0800 number received
- 4 E-newsletters (to all partners)
- 63% E-newsletter open rate
Baseline consumer research on awareness and perceptions of Tyrewise is being carried out by Kantar, baseline participant research will be carried out shortly.
7. Participant compliance
Tyrewise is required to check that participants are meeting the expectations in the code of participation. The Ministry asks us to provide evidence of the field visits and site assessments we carry out to do this. We must also report any non-compliant sales of regulated tyres to the Ministry for the Environment.
We had made 3,840 field visits or calls to prospective participants by 3 October 2024.
Tyrewise is required to check that participants are meeting the expectations in the code of participation. The Ministry asks us to provide evidence of the field visits and site assessments we carry out to do this. We must also report any non-compliant sales of regulated tyres to the Ministry for the Environment.
One of the most important things our field reps do on their visits is to make sure participants have all the information they need to comply with the regulations and meet their obligations under the scheme e.g. correctly disclosing the fee to their customers.
A process for dealing with complaints against signatories to the code of participation has been established and published in the code of participation.
8. Scheme delivery audits by the Ministry for the Environment
The Ministry for the Environment must check that the product stewardship organisation, Auto Stewardship New Zealand (ASNZ), and the scheme manager (3R Group) are carrying out their responsibilities.
They’re also responsible for checking that participants are complying with the regulations.
The Ministry will let ASNZ know when audits are coming up and what information they’ll need in advance. The results of these audits get used to recommend improvements to the delivery of and participation in the scheme.
We look forward to sharing more in future reports, especially once we have more operational data and results to report on.