Mr. Matthew Collins:

Thank you, Chairman, for inviting us here to discuss the proposals to address waste tyres. The members of the committee have received a paper outlining the background and introduction of these regulations and the Department's interactions with stakeholders in that regard. I would like to draw members' attention to the main points raised in that submission, rather than go through it in full detail.

These regulations were signed by the Minister as a means of dealing with the chronic problem of waste tyres in Ireland. The scale of the problem is now such that the Minister has made available €1 million this year to 23 different local authorities who have reported illegal stockpiles of tyres dumped within their own jurisdictions. The new structures that are being introduced deliver on recommendations stemming from a report in 2013, which looks specifically at how the tyre industry was operating the producer responsibility schemes. The report found the schemes were not fit for purpose.

The recent regulations signed by the Minister enable the establishment of a full compliance scheme for tyre operators, financed by a visible environmental management cost, or VEMC. Similar compliance schemes have operated very successfully across other waste streams, including packaging, waste electrical and electronic goods, batteries and farm plastics. The introduction of the VEMC will standardise and formalise a charge that tyre retailers already apply to purchases of new tyres by consumers, and ensure that the fee they pay goes towards what it is supposed to support, the environmental treatment of waste tyres. The Department met on several occasions with different sectors of the tyre trade, including representative bodies, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, waste tyre collectors and recovery operators, to discuss the design of the new scheme. In addition to this, all three tyre representative organisations and tyre manufacturers were consulted in the drafting of the new regulations. Their input into same was very constructive. The Department recognises that the new scheme is a different approach for the industry, and will continue to work closely with the industry as it develops.

I thank the committee.