How we got here

Mahi tahi tātou - working together for a better Aotearoa New Zealand.

It’s taken a long time to create Tyrewise, the Kiwi solution for the 6.5 million tyres that reach their end of life in this country each year.

It started in 2012, co-designed with industry and Government, but for some, efforts to end tyre waste go even further back. Whenever the journey started for you, together our mahi will create positive outcomes for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Read on to find out how we got here.

Phase One 2012-2013

Tyrewise project commences March 2012 with funding from the Waste Minimisation Fund, administered by the Ministry for the Environment.

The aim is to development a product stewardship programme to manage end-of-life tyres in New Zealand. The outcome is a request from industry for a declaration of priority product, effectively making stewardship mandatory.

Key milestones:

Establish Working Group
Critique existing systems
Stakeholder engagement
Investigate alternate uses
Identify stewardship options
Industry and public consultation
Submission of a Business Plan, Launch Plan and Accreditation Application

Submittal of the final documents including the Scheme Accreditation application and Final Report mark the completion of Phase One in August 2013.

Tyrewise Industry Conference – 2015

With no decision on a priority product declaration from the Government of the time, a successful conference is held to maintain momentum and industry engagement.

Investment strategy – 2016-2017

The then National Government proceeds with an investment strategy to secure markets for end-of-life tyres with funding awarded in 2017 to a number of projects, including Golden Bay Cement Hot Disk project.

This step postpones any decision about declaring tyres a ‘priority product’ until the results of this funding investment materialise, effectively putting Tyrewise ‘on hold’.

Renewed Momentum – 2017

Following the 2017 election, the new coalition government includes the establishment of “a tyre stewardship fund” as one of their coalition priorities for their first term.

This renews industry hopes that a regulated product stewardship solution for tyres will be put in place.

Priority Product – 2019-2020

The Coalition Government confirms they are working on regulating six waste streams – tyres, synthetic greenhouse gases, agricultural chemicals, farm plastics, e-waste and packaging.

Ministry for the Environment holds public consultation on proposed priority products and scheme guidelines.

Priority Product status for these is confirmed in mid-2020.

Phase Two – 2019

The 2019 project aims to update the Tyrewise Product Stewardship Scheme reports produced as part of Phase One.

Key milestones:

Current situation
Best practice
Preferred stewardship options
Mass balance data on tyre imports
Industry and public consultation
Final report issued

Implementation Project – 2022-2023

In June 2022, Auto Stewardship New Zealand (ASNZ) announces its application to the Waste Minimisation Fund – Te Pūtea Whakamauru Para for implementation funding of $1.2 million had been successful.

The Tyrewise Implementation Project commences March 2022 and is due to complete in November 2023.

Public consultation November 2021

Ministry for the Environment holds a public consultation on proposed regulations for tyres and large batteries. Read more

Parliamentary Process – 2022-2023

Ministry for the Environment complete the enactment of the proposed regulations that require participants to act in accordance with Tyrewise. The regulations are gazetted as a Regulation under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008. The in-effect date is 1 March 2024 for Tranche One. Tranche Two sees Tyrewise go live in September 2024.

If you have further questions about how the scheme was developed, please get in touch.

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Take the opportunity to understand the terminology behind Tyrewise.