Have your say on old tyres

End-of-life tyres (ELTs) are back on the agenda with the government seeking information and feedback on managing outdoor storage areas.

A public consultation process has been started by the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) with government, businesses, farmers, iwi and the public.

“Tyres stored outdoors pose risks to the environment and to human health,” says a MfE spokesman. “Piles of tyres can become a fire risk that produces toxic smoke and run-off, can become home for mosquitoes and rodents, and risk leaching contaminants into the soil. Abandoned stockpiles can create a financial liability to remove or clean up sites.”

A national environmental standard – a set of rules managed by regional councils – is being proposed because “this will help avoid the problem of tyres being moved from one region to another in response to different council rules”. 

This new consultation follows a previous round in 2017. The proposal then was for a volume threshold of 200m3, which equates to about 2,500 car tyres, could be stored outdoors on a property before a resource consent was required.  

The new consultation document seeks feedback on a lower proposed threshold option of 100m3. In addition, it is proposed that quantities of tyres from 40m3 – about 500 tyres – and up to the threshold be subject to the Resource Management Act’s “permitted activity rule with requirements”. For example, they must be set back from watercourses and powerlines. Farm silage tyres are likely to be excluded from resource consent.

Consultation is open now and closes on March 25, 2020. Click here for the full consultation document and further details on making a submission.