24/06/2024
More cost doesn’t guarantee better results.
For 25 years, Ken Turner Motors has been using a West Auckland firm to collect and shred our old tyres.
JJ Laughton is one of only six companies dealing with end-of-life tyres, and I understand the first to establish a shredding process.
But these hard-working businesses do not have the capacity to collect and process all old tyres. Sadly, it's estimated that more than 50% of old tyres are still disposed of improperly.
To address this issue, the government has established Tyrewise, a nationwide end-of-life tyre stewardship scheme.
From March 1st, a tyre stewardship fee has been added to the cost of every new tyre, supposedly to pay for:
• Scheme management.
• Tyre collection services.
• Incentive payments for processing and tyre-derived product manufacture for the domestic market.
• Research and development grants, and
• Monitoring of the scheme by the Ministry for the Environment.
Domestic-size tyres are now subject to a Stewardship Tax of between $6.65 and $13.65+GST, while heavy transport, agricultural, and earthmoving tires pay considerably more. Domestic tyres alone will contribute over $65 million per year to the Tyrewise Stewardship scheme.
But, in typical bureaucratic fashion, creating procedures and setting charges seems more important than addressing the practical problems.
Tyrewise only communicated with us in June, requesting us to self-register and prepare for a visit from Tyrewise staff, who will seek evidence of compliance with any Local Bylaws, consents relevant to our outdoor storage of tyres, any other data required by Tyrewise for auditing and compliance of our business. And proof that we will use the Tyrewise tyre tracking web-based application so that registered transporters can reconcile tyres picked up from us.
Tyrewise has established no better communication with the firm collecting and shredding our old tyres.
The result is that we and our clients are currently paying the tyre stewardship tax in addition to the cost of continuing our current method of disposing of old tires. And what a costly charge it is, the worst example so far being a 750% increase.
23x8.5 12inch Lug tyre (ride-on mower type)
JJ Laughton disposal fee: $2.30 +gst.
Tyrewise disposal fee: $17.29+gst (Tyrewise will probably contract JJ Laughton to do the job, which they’re already doing for a fraction of the price).
I predict this significant cost increase will not lead to better outcomes across the country; it will just create more bureaucracy for all of us.
Ken Turner
