Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 349: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of waste tyre collectors licensed; the locations to which these collectors bring the waste tyres; the number of sites involved; the number licensed for the treatment of tyres; the treatment the tyres undergo and their final destination; if there is a limit on the volume of tyres these sites can take; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11084/10]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 350: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if collectors receive €1.50 to €2 per tyre, with the public paying from €2 to €5 to get rid of waste tyres; if his attention has been drawn to the number of sites containing thousands of tyres which pose an environmental problem; if his further attention has been drawn to the lack of uniformity in the application of waste tyre legislation by local authorities here and the urgent need to tackle this problem in a uniform way to avoid serious environmental pollution in the event of a fire in any of these unregulated sites; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11085/10]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 364: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the grants and-or incentives available to persons who wish to set up businesses for the purpose of recycling vehicle tyres; the assistance that is available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11540/10]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 349, 350 and 364 together.

In order to tackle the inadequacy of information on tyre flows and the management of waste tyres and put in place a proper regulatory framework, I made the Waste Management (Tyres and Waste Tyres) Regulations 2007. These Regulations facilitate the comparison of quantities of waste tyres arising with the amounts placed on the market and the tracking of waste tyre movements from their discarding until they are either reused or processed for recycling.

There is scope for the beneficial use of waste tyres for applications including in farming activities. Therefore the Regulations allow farmers, who require waste tyres to anchor silage covering, to store up to eight waste tyres for every square metre of the floor area of their silage pit, without the need to have a waste permit. Others requiring waste tyres for genuine reuse, such as marinas, are able to source them subject to the approval of local authorities. Furthermore the Regulations require recyclers, retreaders, remoulders and other recovery operators to issue "Certificates of Recovery" to authorised waste collectors depositing waste tyres with them. Authorised waste collectors are required to report to the EPA on the quantities of waste tyres collected and transferred to recovery operators.

The 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. Economic operators 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 economic operators are required to register with local authorities and submit information on tyre and waste tyre flows in each quarterly period. Participants in an approved collective compliance scheme must also submit information on tyre and waste tyre flows in each quarterly period to the scheme concerned.

I have approved two collective compliance schemes, Tyre Recovery Activity Compliance Scheme Ltd. (TRACS) and Tyre Waste Management Ltd. (TWM) to operate as approved bodies under the Regulations. Approvals are generally for five years and require interim reviews to be conducted. The results of these reviews will determine whether TRACS and TWM have been operating satisfactorily. It will also assist in determining whether a system that tracks products from the time they are placed on the market until they reach end of life is effective in keeping waste tyres out of the reach of unauthorised operators or whether it would be more effective to require producers to take direct responsibility for the environmentally sound management of waste tyres.

The Regulations do not provide for charges for managing waste tyres. Where such charges are applied they are a contractual issue between the vendor and the end-user in respect of the provision of a service. Likewise collection fees charged by waste collectors and gate fees charged at recycling and recovery facilities are contractual issues between the parties concerned.

Statutory responsibility for the permitting of waste facilities, the conditions attaching to such permits and the enforcement of permits are matters for the relevant local authority. My Department does not compile the type of information sought in respect of the numbers or locations of such facilities. My Department does not operate a system or scheme of grant assistance to fund private sector waste treatment facilities.