Nov 7 2006
Scrap tyres feature on the priority list of end-of-life streams to be studied by the Environment Committee of the European Parliament in the context of its wider review of when waste ceases to be waste, the latest BIR Tyres Round-Table was informed by its Chairman, Barend Ten Bruggencate of VACO in the Netherlands. The inclusion of used tyres in this analysis of end-of-waste status was an acknowledgement of their importance as a material stream, he told delegates in Brussels.
Latest figures indicate that many Western European countries are achieving a 100% recovery rate for used tyres via a number of different routes. However, many of the newer EU member states had been struggling to make progress and would require help from those with experience in this field, according to Mr Ten Bruggencate. Funds were available from the EU’s research budget to assist with the development of collection and recycling infrastructures in these countries, he added.
Guest speaker Frank Hopstaken of the FFact management consultancy in the Netherlands explained the Dutch approach to end-of-life tyres. Under the RecyBEM system introduced in 2004, producers and importers pay Euro 2 per tyre into a fund dedicated to financing collection and recycling. Of the millions of end-of-life tyres collected by certified collectors, 40% have been destined for reuse (13% retreading), 28% for material recycling and 32% for energy recovery via cement kilns.
The system, comprising 27 collectors and four granulating companies, was operating efficiently and at low cost, according to Mr Hopstaken. Free market systems - such as the one adopted in neighbouring Germany - had not come into conflict with the Dutch approach. The next phase of the programme, he said, would involve enhancement of administration software and stricter control of retailer-supplier interaction.
The RecyBEM system was “really impressive” and further established the Netherlands at the forefront of used tyre recycling initiatives in Europe, commented Alvaro Rodriguez Martinez of Energis SA in Spain, who is Chairman of BIR’s International Environment Council.
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