Following a visit by the Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Bernice Swarts’ to the Rustenburg Waste Tyre Depot in Tlhabane, the Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa has declared the country’s tyre waste management a “ticking time bomb”
“The Rustenburg Waste Tyre Depot is not representative of the dire state of depots across the country,” said Stacey Jansen, a director at REDISA.
REDISA has formally requested that the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) address significant governance issues, which it asserts have resulted in South Africa’s waste tyre depots posing substantial public health and environmental risks.
Jansen also added; “Perhaps the deputy minister should rather have visited the site of the disastrous Biesiesvlei depot in Lichtenburg, also in the North West.
“In 2023, the depot went up in flames, causing massive environmental damage.
“Despite the dire warning of Lichtenburg, the North West and all other provinces remain threatened by dangerously overburdened depots.
Dr Chris Crozier, an executive committee member of REDISA, claims the government is focusing on waste tyre storage and not recycling.
“The depots are so full that recently the DFFE put out tenders for another 32 waste tyre depots, totalling a million square metres.
“The latest DFFE Annual Report also shows they underspent on the transport budget because they don’t have storage space for the tyres.
“The DFEE has also just gone to tender to auction off some R100mworth of equipment that was ‘intended’ to be used for pre-processing tyres and ‘intended’ to generate revenue for the Waste Bureau, but is not being used.
“This is bluntly an admission of failure: they can’t deal with the tyres, and spent tens of millions on equipment that they can’t put to use.”
REDISA reports that South Africa generates at least 70,000 waste tyres daily. Many depots are not adhering to safety protocols, resulting in trucks being turned away and illegal dumping occurring. Eight years ago, South Africa led in tyre waste management with a system demonstrating circular solutions for varied waste streams. Currently, REDISA claims small businesses and micro-collectors are excluded from the recycling process as the Waste Management Bureau does not employ them.
REDISA operated a scheme that gave tyre collector the opportunity to hold a bank account and collections were tracked, and tyres were recycled until the government stepped in and brought an end to the successful operation.
