Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

One thing on which we will agree is that there is a lot of misinformation but I have put on the record statistics published by my Department as far back as 2013. One of those is quite startling, which is that between 25% and 50% of tyres are unaccounted for.

They are not being disposed off by licensed waste collectors or in landfills. They are unaccounted for, which means they have been illegally dumped, transported elsewhere or burned. It is as simple as that.

It is important to have environmental compliance, without which we will expose the State and taxpayers to fines and penalties which can be costly in environmental terms and to the Exchequer. We cannot postpone further the introduction of producer responsibility for waste tyres. We must act and we urgently need a robust, comprehensive system of management for waste tyres. The tyre industry is being asked to do nothing more than what all other sectors have done in terms of managing the waste from products they place on the market.

The full producer responsibility initiative, PRI, for tyres and waste tyres will be operated by Repak. Work has commenced on drafting new tyre regulations and we anticipate that the new structures will be in place by the middle of next year. We are confident that the new arrangements will enjoy the full support of all members of the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers Association, which accounts for approximately 50% of the Irish tyre market. In addition, there has been strong uptake of membership of the Repak end-of-life tyres, ELT, scheme, including from members of the ITIA and ITWRA.

I reiterate that environmental compliance is important and we are asking the tyre sector to step up to the mark in terms of managing waste in the sector and the way in which it is tracked and accounted for because tyres are going missing. Between 25% and 50% of tyres are unaccounted for and being either dumped or burned, which is not good for the environment.

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