Industry gets lowdown on Tyrewise

Dealers and vehicle importers have been reminded transparency is key when it comes to highlighting to consumers the fees that will apply under a looming product stewardship scheme for end-of-life tyres (ELTs). 

Two webinars have been held this week for businesses across the vehicle and tyre supply chain to outline details of Tyrewise before its official launch on March 1.

The first was hosted by the Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association (VIA) on February 14 and attracted more than 50 people.

Adele Rose, chief executive of the 3R Group, which is the implementation project managers for Tyrewise, gave a presentation about the scheme, its progress and what will happen next.

She pointed out Tyrewise, which has been busy taking registrations of participants, has been co-designed with the industry and will tackle the 6.5 million tyres that reach their end of life in New Zealand each year.

From the beginning of March, tyres – loose or on vehicles – must be sold in accordance with the accredited scheme and a tyre stewardship fee will be collected on all regulated tyres when they enter the New Zealand market.

“A person that registers a motor vehicle that has not previously been registered must pay a fee for the regulated tyres that are attached to that motor vehicle to the NZTA when the vehicle is registered,” explains Rose. 

She adds the fee is included as part of on-road costs and importers must transparently declare the fee to customers on any invoice or sale agreement.

“Where the tyre stewardship fee is paid by the consumer, responsibility still very much sits with the industry that imports tyres and vehicles with tyres on them.

“The stewardship fee must be transparent and not just wrapped up as part of a homogenous fee and dealers will already be used to doing this with the refrigerant gases levy.”

Other potential obligations for importers from March 1, depending on where and when vehicle registration takes place, include:

• If you are the importer, but will not register the vehicle, you are responsible for advising your customer of the obligation to pay the fee at the first point of registration, or self-declaring the import to the Ministry for the Environment if it will not be registered.

• If you import the vehicle, register it and offer a fitting service for tyres, you are responsible for paying the fee at the first point of registration as part of the on-road costs and declaring the fee to your customer on the invoice or sale agreement.

‘Appropriate and fair’ fees

VIA members also heard how the scheme’s fees have been set, with tyres attached to vehicles identified by motor vehicle class or vehicle type in the NZTA’s vehicle registration systems, or by the vehicle weight.

“A series of bands have been developed with NZTA and industry to determine the most appropriate and fair fee to apply in those bands,” notes Rose.

While the regulations for Tyrewise kick-in at the start of March, the system will not be fully operational until September 1 when ELTs taken off vehicles must be retained and booked for free collection to be taken to processers.

Greig Epps, VIA’s chief executive, says the association looks forward to seeing the system’s rollout and welcomed the years of work that have gone into the development of Tyrewise finally coming to fruition.

Rose says a dashboard on the Tyrewise website will show in real-time the volume of ELTs moving from collection sites or generators to processors.

Tyrewise also held a “readiness for March 1” webinar, pictured, on February 15 for all of the scheme’s liable parties and participant types, which featured a lengthy question-and-answer session covering a range of points.

It is also planning a series of roadshows at major centres starting from February 19 to help develop relationships with registered partners.

Focus on batteries

Rose also provided an update to the VIA-hosted webinar about work to establish a large battery stewardship scheme, which aims to maintain the value of electric vehicle (EV) batteries in a circular economy for as long as possible.

The system will be designed so consumers are not left with the cost of disposing of a battery at the end of its useful life, with up to 84,000 large batteries in New Zealand expected to have reached their end of use by 2030.

“If they ended up in a landfill or were dumped there would be a problem, however, those batteries still have a value,” explains Rose.

“We hope to have a flow of batteries into the second-life market but at the moment we are focusing on obligations of digital passports for batteries and making sure NZ can meet its international obligations.”