The Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa (Redisa) – gazetted at the end of 2012 by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) for the mitigate the impact of tyre waste on the environment – looks forward to a second, and successful, operational year of waste tyre recycling.

Redisa hopes that the success of the first year will prove to be a better option for the handling of waste by manufacturers, as opposed to government’s recent announcement that it might have to impose a tax on manufacturers to manage the disposal of electronic goods when they become defunct. This is an attempt by government to try to mitigate the impact of tyres on the environment.

Having started its first operational year in June 2013, Redisa’s Integrated Industry Waste Tyre Management Plan aims to support the development of small businesses, which it hopes will subsequently drive the recycling industry in South Africa through investment in infrastructure, business support and research on new applications for waste tyres. This will lead to a development of a circular economy – with particular reference to the tyre industry.

In exchange for shouldering this responsibility, Redisa director Stacey Davidson points out, Redisa receives a waste tyre management fee of R2.30/kg from all tyre manufacturers and importers in the country. The fee will cover costs associated with dealing with end-of-life tyres and is charged as part of the manufacturing cost of the tyres. The money is then used to develop a new tyre recycling industry, while hundreds of jobs are created, as well as adequate support for small businesses.

She adds that the fees are directly applied, in an audited and accountable fashion, to dealing with the waste, making it more effective than a tax-based system, where funds are channelled into the general fiscus, such as the tax levied on plastic bags, which has been unsuccessful because people are using alternative bags instead of buying plastic bags.

“The model has been working efficiently, as tyre manufacturers and importers are taking responsibility for their waste through the Redisa Plan, and the environmental disaster that waste tyres represent is being economically and effectively addressed,” Davidson says.

She notes that, in so doing, the plan integrates government’s mandate to involve previously disadvantaged communities as well as existing informal collectors in the management of waste tyres.

“The principle of recycling is not only a solution for waste tyres, but the same principle can be used for other waste streams, such as packaging and general waste,” concludes Davidson.