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The concept of regulated product stewardship is a new one to many, and we know with any new regulations there is a lot to wrap your head around.
We hope these FAQs will help.
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About Tyrewise
What is Tyrewise?
Tyrewise is the accredited, regulated product stewardship scheme for end-of-life tyres in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The scheme was designed by industry with support from government and was widely consulted on before regulations supporting tyre stewardship were approved.
It is the mechanism by which those in the supply chain take responsibility for the environmental impact of their product at its end of life under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008.
Tyrewise will enable the nationwide resource recovery of end-of-life tyres in New Zealand to ensure this resource is not wasted, but rather creates economic and social benefits.
Read more about the government regulation that supports tyre stewardship.
What tyres are covered by Tyrewise?
The Waste Minimisation (Tyres) Regulations 2023 cover all pneumatic (air filled) and solid tyres for use on motorised vehicles, including cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, aircraft, trailers, and off-road vehicles.
Tyres for most agricultural machinery are also included.
In this instance, a motor vehicle means a vehicle drawn or propelled by mechanical power, as defined in the Land Transport Act 1998 - Section 2.
These are Tyrewise Scope One tyres. Importers and sellers of these tyres must register with Tyrewise and act in accordance with the scheme.
Bicycle tyres, tyres for non-motorised equipment such as prams, and pre-cured rubber for retreads will come under Tyrewise at a later stage. These are Scope Two tyres.
What is regulated product stewardship?
Regulated product stewardship is when regulations are used to:
- increase circular resource use;
- place responsibilities for managing end-of-life products on producers, importers and retailers rather than on communities, councils, neighbourhoods and nature.
You can read more about priority products and regulated product stewardship on the Ministry for the Environment website.
Who operates Tyrewise?
The scheme is operated by Auto Stewardship New Zealand, a not-for-profit trust, and is monitored by the Ministry for the Environment.
Read more about the development, governance and monitoring of Tyrewise.
How is Tyrewise monitored?
Ministry for the Environment
The Ministry for the Environment (the Ministry) is responsible for monitoring compliance with the regulations and enforcing obligations under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008. Further information can be found at Compliance monitoring and enforcement of the Waste Minimisation Act 2008.
The Tyrewise Scheme Manager will support the Ministry in helping scheme participants understand their responsibilities under the regulations.
Tyrewise Scheme Manager
Under the Regulations, the Tyrewise Scheme Manager must—
(a) provide, or arrange for others to provide, a take-back service for waste regulated tyres; and
(b) collect, and provide to the Secretary for the Environment, information about the requirements for the take-back service imposed by this regulation.
Services provided by Tyrewise will be detailed and agreed to within a Service Level Agreement which will include the information we need to collect and provide to the Secretary for the Environment. In addition to this, the Tyrewise Code of Practice covers the expectations of all participants acting in accordance with the scheme. The Product Stewardship Organisation (Governance) and the Operator of the Scheme (Tyrewise Scheme Manager) are collectively responsible for the performance of the accredited tyre scheme and are responsible for reporting to the Secretary for the Environment. This relationship is further detailed in a Funding Agreement and an Operational Delivery Plan.
National Environmental Standard for Outdoor Storage of Tyres
Local Authorities are responsible for monitoring compliance and enforcing any requirements under the National Environmental Standard for Outdoor Storage of Tyres.
What happens to end-of-life tyres?
A mix of end uses is currently available in Aotearoa New Zealand through a number of different companies.
These include playground matting, sportsgrounds, arena dressing, and cement production (both as fuel and ingredient). There are also promising uses for end-of-life tyres currently being researched and tested including rubber in roading (extensively used overseas) and rubber in residential foundations to improve earthquake resilience.
You can read about these in the case studies on our website.
Tyrewise supports the development of more and higher value tyre derived products.
Fees
How much are the tyre stewardship fees?
Schedule 2 of the Waste Minimisation (Tyres) Regulation 2023 sets the exact fees payable.
No markups can be made to the Tyre Stewardship Fee.
The fees have been modelled on $6.65 (excl. GST) per Equivalent Passenger Unit (EPU). An EPU is based on a new standard passenger tyre of approximately 9.5kg. All tyre types have been grouped according to factors such as their size and function and assigned an average EPU value. For example, on average a motorbike tyre is 0.5 EPU and a large truck tyre is 4.2 EPU. For imported tyres, this is based on a tyre type that corresponds to the tariff item.
Tyre importers calculate the Tyre Stewardship Fee by SKU on the various tyres they import and pass this on to their customers, who pass it on to the final tyre buyer.
What is the tyre stewardship fee for?
The Tyre Stewardship Fee replaces current disposal charges and covers the future management of the tyre on which it is paid.
The fee will cover the following activities:
- management of the scheme
- tyre collection services
- incentive payment for processing and tyre-derived product manufacture
- research and development grants
- monitoring of the scheme by Ministry for the Environment (this is set at 0.48% of the fee)
How will the tyre stewardship fee be charged?
Loose tyres: The fee will initially be paid by the importer of loose tyres. This fee must be passed on to consumers. Importers, retailers and tyre fitters (generators) must ensure the fee is transparently declared at each point in the tyre sales process – from importer to retailer/generator, and from retailer/generator to consumer.
Tyres fitted on road registered vehicles: The fee is charged at the point of first registration by NZTA / Waka Kotahi. It will be part of the on-road costs (ORC) of a vehicle. The amount of the fee must be transparently disclosed as part of the on-road costs.
Off-road vehicles: Importers of vehicles that will not be road registered will declare the imports directly to Tyrewise using a self-declaration form.
Where do I see the fee I'm paying?
The Tyre Stewardship Fee must be transparently disclosed when it is oncharged.
Loose tyres:
The tyre stewardship fee should be itemised separately to the tyre sale price. If the seller's system doesn't have room for the description as a line item, it may be referred to as the TSF and described elsewhere on the invoice.
Prices can be advertised that include the Tyrewise Stewardship Fee, as long as it is shown separately on an invoice or receipt We have created some examples.
Vehicles:
It can be included in On Road Costs (ORC), as long as it is disclosed as a separate item on the sale agreement or invoice.
The fee is shown on the NZTA tax invoice label.
Do second-hand tyres attract a tyre stewardship fee?
From 1 March 2024, second-hand regulated tyres that are imported into the country will attract tyre stewardship fees in the same way as new regulated tyre imports.
Second-hand tyres which originated in Aotearoa New Zealand will not require payment of tyre stewardship fees at point of sale as this will have already been paid at the time of the original import. Tyres deemed suitable for sale on the second-hand market should be stored separately by generators and tyre retailers as their management is not covered by Tyrewise.
What happens if a tyre I have paid a tyre stewardship fee on reaches end-of-life before Tyrewise starts collections?
- The Retailer cannot charge the customer a disposal fee on a tyre for which that customer has already paid the Tyre Stewardship Fee
- The Retailer should notify Tyrewise of tyres that have been purchased between 1 March 2024 and become end of life before 1 September 2024 so that they record these tyres as legitimate “stock held over” for collection by Tyrewise from 1 September 2024. The Retailer will be required to provide evidence of purchase and end of life within the date of 1 March 2024 and 31 August 2024.
- If the Retailer is unable to accommodate the stored volume of these specific tyres on site, they or their customers should make alternate arrangements for storage of these tyres for collection after 1 Sept 2024.
- A fee will have been paid on these tyres, and they should be eligible for free collection in due course once Tyrewise can start.
Stockpiles and legacy tyres
How will stockpiles be managed?
Local government authorities are primarily responsible for managing land use and associated environmental effects relating to end-of-life tyres.
From 1 September 2024, Tyrewise will be responsible for ensuring that end-of-life tyres aren’t stockpiled to the point where the problem has become large and intervention by local government is required.
Under the regulation, Tyrewise cannot use fees paid on regulated tyres to manage existing stockpiles. We will work with central and local government to manage existing stockpiles using the National Environmental Standard for the Outdoor Storage of Tyres as guidance.
If there is a tyre stockpile you are concerned about, either:
a) report it to your local regional council or
b) report it to Tyrewise
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