Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 379: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the reason every tyre has to be registered for recycling purposes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12861/09]

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Question 392: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of used tyres collected and the number recycled in the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13383/09]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I propose to answer Questions Nos. 379 and 392 together.

No specific information is available to my Department on the volumes of waste tyres collected or recycled for the last 12 months, and, there is no requirement for every tyre to be registered for recycling purposes. National waste statistics for waste streams are independently produced and published on an annual basis by the EPA in the National Waste Report, the most recent of which for 2007 was published in January. Information on tyre flows and the management of waste tyres has long been regarded as inadequate. To tackle this deficit and put in place a proper regulatory framework, I made the Waste Management (Tyres and Waste Tyres) Regulations 2007. These Regulations impose obligations on persons who supply tyres to the Irish market, whether as producers (e.g. manufacturers, importers including wholesalers, traders and retailers who source tyres outside the State), or suppliers (e.g. wholesalers, traders and retailers who source tyres exclusively within the State) and on the collectors of waste tyres.

The Regulations were introduced following protracted negotiations with economic stakeholders, including wholesalers, under the auspices of the Irish Tyre Industry Association (ITIA) and included discussions with other stakeholders including farming organisations. They were published in draft in March 2007 for public consultation, which resulted in the development of a Producer Responsibility Initiative (PRI). The Regulations facilitate the comparison of quantities of waste tyres arising with the amounts placed on the market and tracking the movement of waste tyres from their discarding until they are either reused or processed for recycling.

As is the normal practice with PRIs, the Regulations place a number of obligations on economic stakeholders who have the option of either self complying or participating in an approved industry compliance scheme which takes on the administrative burden associated with self compliance. Self complying producers, suppliers and the collectors of waste tyres are required to register with local authorities and submit information on tyre and waste tyre flows each quarter to the relevant local authorities. Alternatively producers may participate in an approved collective compliance scheme and submit information on tyre and waste tyre flows each quarter to approved collective compliance scheme concerned. I have approved Tyre Recovery Activity Compliance Scheme Ltd. (TRACS) to operate as an approved body under the Regulations. TRACS is required to report to me annually. Its Annual Report must include:

The performance of its tyre and waste tyre data flow scheme for the preceding calendar year,

An outlook for the coming year, and

An audited statement of accounts for the preceding calendar year.

Furthermore the Regulations require operators involved in the collection, recycling and re-use of waste tyres to issue Certificates of Recovery and submit reports to the EPA. Data in respect of waste tyres, exclusively, have not been collected by the EPA in preparing their National Waste Reports. I understand, however, that information compiled by TRACS and local authorities will now enable the EPA to provide detailed information on quantities of waste tyres managed in an environmentally sound manner and the recovery / recycling rates achieved.