Redisa recycling plants operating in Eastern Cape

Redisa's Stacey Davidson says that Langkloof Bricks is the only company actually recycling tyres at the moment. Image: Redisa

The first two opened last month in Port Elizabeth and have handled 41 tons of passenger, 4×4 and truck tyres.

Redisa Director Stacey Davidson said depots would be opened in Grahamstown and Somerset East before the end of the year.

Redisa depots, such as those at Arlington in Port Elizabeth and in East London, store waste tyres before they are delivered to recycling plants, small businesses and entrepreneurs countrywide. Redisa pays transport companies to move tyres from dealers and manufacturers to depots and recyclers.

Davidson said the only recycler in the region at the moment was Langkloof Bricks, which burns the tyres at 1,200°C to make bricks. Redisa supplies the tyres at no cost to the company, which is paid a subsidy for every ton processed.

The East London depot opened in June. Davidson said other Eastern Cape depots to open in the next two years were planned for Graaff-Reinet, Middelburg, Mthatha, Cradock, Port Alfred, Queenstown, Qunu and Butterworth.

Port Elizabeth is SA's tyre manufacturing centre

Old tyres are being collected at depots in Port Elizabeth and East London although recycling plants still have to be established to transform the old tyres into reusable products. Image: Rainharvest

With three of the country's tyre manufacturers based in the Port Elizabeth, Redisa had been criticised for its slow establishment of recycling services, particularly in Nelson Mandela Bay, although tyre manufacturers have been required by law to pay a levy to Redisa for waste tyre management services since last year.

This followed a court battle between Redisa and the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI) which ended up in the Supreme Court, which dismissed an appeal by the RMI for an interdict halting the implementation of Redisa's waste tyre management plan.

At this stage Redisa-accredited transporters mostly still serve the region's tyre dealers, although tyre manufacturers and vehicle manufacturers are also required to sign up as collection points.

All importers and manufacturers of tyres are required by law to pay R2.30 (plus VAT) on every kilogram of new tyre rubber produced.

Davidson said the fee was an extended product responsibility management fee whereby the cost of recycling the end-of-life product was billed to the producer.

In addition to opening depots across the province, Redisa also recently signed a research agreement with Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) to establish a tyre testing centre at NMMU to determine an environmental rating for tyres based on quality.

"Redisa is tendering to research institutions to conduct an independent investigation into the total economic impact of this new waste stream management model and believes this model is beneficial to the nation as a whole," she said.

Source: Herald via I-Net Bridge