The California State Assembly voted on the 27th August to pass Assembly Bill (AB) 2908 by Assembly member Marc Berman. The vote to concur in assembly amendments follows the bill’s passage in the State Senate Aug. 23 and should be the final step before the bill heads to the governor.
California Votes on Tyre Recycling Bill
AB 2908 directs the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to develop an incentive payment system to fund recycling end uses for waste tyres. AB 2908 also sets a 75 per cent recycling target for waste tyres, nearly double the current rate*, and updates the state’s tyre manifest system. While the new incentive program will be funded from the state’s existing tire fee ($1.75), the legislation also allows CalRecycle to assess a charge on the sale of new tires (not to exceed $1) to continue funding the regulatory activities of the department.
AB 2908 is the third attempt in four years to reform the state’s tyre recycling system.
“Californians generate 44 million used tyres every single year, and the illegal dumping of tyres is costly to clean up and can be a danger to the environment and public health,” Berman says. “Incentivising the remanufacturing of used tyres into consumer products and pavement material makes sense for the environment, jobs, public health and our bottom line.”
“California’s tyre recycling rate has been far too low for far too long. Providing incentive payments to end-users of recycled materials is among the most cost-effective ways to increase recycling, and it has been proven to work across different material types,” Nick Lapis, director of advocacy for Californians Against Waste, the Sacramento, California-based no-profit organisation that sponsored the bill, says.
* The US Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) recently issued a report detailing the progress of domestic tyre recycling efforts… 96% of the 230 million-plus tyres discarded last year were reused in several markets, it notes.
