Fire hazard concerns as waste tyres pile up
Liquidation of government-funded recycling firm creates headache
SAFETY fears over potential fire hazards have been raised as thousands of tyres pile up at fitment centres in Nelson Mandela Bay and elsewhere in South Africa after a high court order. The Cape Town High Court late last week granted Environmental Affairs Minister Dr Edna Molewa’s application for the liquidation of national waste tyre management organisation, the Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa (Redisa).
In a surprise announcement on Thursday, Redisa said it would no longer be receiving waste tyres at its depots across the country and cited the halting of government funding in February as the reason.
On the same day, according to the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) which overseas the national tyre disposal initiative – and in response to the Redisa announcement – Molewa was successful in her urgent application for an order to liquidate and wind down Redisa and thereby safeguard the operations and assets associated with the organisation.
DEA spokesman Albi Modise said Redisa had been aware of the requirements of amendments to the funding model affecting its integrated industry waste tyre management plan since 2014, but had failed to comply with those requirements and waited until the last minute.
While the department has yet to indicate how waste tyres will be managed in the short term, Modise said all role players were requested to cooperate with the liquidator, waste management bureau and the department while the process unfolded.
“The waste bureau and the department will, in the next couple of days, be sending further communication with regards to the next steps.”
Waste tyres have started piling up at tyre fitment centres around the Bay, where they are causing substantial concern due to the space they are taking up and the significant safety risks they pose in the event of fire.
Fitment centres and other tyre-related businesses had been compelled by law to dispose of their waste tyres through Redisa which, in Nelson Mandela Bay, operated a depot in Markman. In its announcement, Redisa said that following the change in its funding model, based on the implementation of a tyre levy collected by SARS effective February 1 this year, it had stopped all collections with immediate effect.
“We have not been allocated any funds post 1 February, and as a result of not having received any funding, and until, and if, government funding has been received, Redisa has no choice but, for the time being, to cease tyre collections,” chief executive Hermann Erdmann said.
Hi-Q Walmer owner Pieter Bienedell said the collection halt could become a huge problem.
Speaking alongside a mound of tyres at his Walmer Park fitment centre, Bienedell pointed out that taxes were already being paid on tyres.
“We have a service provider that collects from us around three times a week. There can be between 40 and 60 casings which have to be collected at a time,” he said.
“If this goes on, it is going to become a huge storage and safety hazard issue for us.”
Johan van Huyssteen, who manages a Tiger Wheel and Tyre centre in 17th Avenue, Walmer, said while he was not authorised to comment, he could confirm that non-collection of tyres would have a negative impact on the business.
Maritza Blignaut, spokeswoman for Sharwoods fitment centres, which operates a number of outlets in Port Elizabeth and has centralised its waste tyres collection point, said the announcement was a huge worry.
“There was no warning, we were informed all of a sudden that there would be no collections,” she said.
“The tyres are piling up, space is running out and it’s a safety risk.”
A tyre collector, who asked not to be named, confirmed he served a substantial number of Bay fitment centres and that he was one of three such service providers. “This has put me in an exceptionally bad financial position. I don’t know what I am going to do.”
‘ The tyres are piling up, space is running out and it’s a safety risk