Auto Stewardship NZ Celebrates Regulated Tyre Stewardship

Auto Stewardship New Zealand (ASNZ) is celebrating the accreditation of New Zealand’s first regulated product stewardship scheme for vehicles.

This comes after Minister for the Environment David Parker yesterday (4 November) announced the accreditation of the Tyrewise regulated product stewardship scheme for dealing with end-of-life tyres.

ASNZ was established in 2013 to provide the governance structure for Tyrewise during its project phase and will continue this governance role as the product stewardship organisation (PSO) for the Tyrewise regulated stewardship scheme.

“This is something we as Auto Stewardship New Zealand, and the members of the tyre industry who have been part of Tyrewise, have been working on for nearly a decade. We’re thrilled to be part of New Zealand’s first accredited regulated product stewardship scheme and would like to see many more,” says ASNZ Chair Mark Gilbert.

ASNZ and its stakeholders have committed to progressing further regulated schemes to ensure there is ‘whole of vehicle’ stewardship, he says.

“This is particularly critical given the clean car discount package announced in mid-2021. As older cars become less desirable New Zealand will need a comprehensive motor vehicle scrappage strategy which ensures resources are not lost to landfill,” Mark says.

“The Ministry for the Environment has put waste reduction and a move to a circular economy at the front and centre of its proposed new national waste strategy, and regulated product stewardship is a vital element of that.”

Tyrewise has been some nine years in the making, led by industry and project managed by product stewardship experts 3R Group, Mark says. It will ensure tyres are collected and recycled instead of ending up in landfills, on roadsides or being illegally dumped.

As the PSO, ASNZ has made recommendation to the Ministry on how a PSO will work for a regulated product stewardship scheme. The Ministry is now calling on New Zealanders, both individuals and businesses, to have their say around how these regulations will impact them.

To find out more and to make a submission visit the Ministry’s website - https://consult.environment.govt.nz/waste/rps-tyres-and-large-batteries

To find out more about ASNZ visit the website - https://autostewardship.org.nz/

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