Tyre re-use incentive announced

Got a good idea for turning old tyres into a useful second life product? There could be money in sharing it.

NATIONAL tyre recycling instigator Tyrewise is chasing innovators and investors to involve in how to rev up this ambition.

The call comes with a tasty incentive of a substantial investment in funding having become available to drive the push to create economic value from the country’s tyre waste. 

Tyrewise today went public in its spruik for expressions of interest for the first round of funding, which opened today and can be applied for until end of the month. Up to $7 million will be available over three rounds in a financial year.

The organisation orchestrates the regulated product stewardship scheme for end-of-life tyres and works with the industry to ensure tyres are collected for recycling or repurposing. 

Mark Gilbert, a former car industry executive (Volvo, BMW) who came to chair Auto Stewardship New Zealand, which governs the Tyrewise scheme, after being a high-profile figure in a group promoting electric vehicle uptake, says the scheme is achieving a high collection rate.

It is now focussing on developing high-value, best use recycling and repurposing solutions for the tyres.

“To enable this goal, Tyrewise is providing contestable funding to help develop end markets for the recycled rubber material from tyres in NZ,” he said today.

Tyrewise is accredited by the Ministry for the Environment and is funded by the tyre stewardship fee charged on imported tyres.

It has a goal of achieving 80 percent of end-of-life tyres to be repurposed into new products by 2028, and to get that up to 90 percent by end of the decade.

“Tyres are a versatile resource that can be turned into many products or used in a number of processes, such as roading, playground surfacing, as a substitute for aggregate, or even earthquake-proofing buildings,” Gilbert contests.

The organisation says there is a challenge, in that the market here isn’t currently big enough to take all the recycled rubber from tyres which are collected. The aim of the fund is to stimulate the development of new products  and potentials.

The fund is structured into three main ‘streams’ – research and development, emerging markets, and community development. 

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be a registered NZ business, research institute, or university, ideally have been operating for at least 12 months, and have satisfactory environmental, safety and financial performance, among other criteria.