New Zealand Tyre Stewardship: TYREP and Equipment for Kiwi Processors

By:     Conor Murphy

New Zealand’s tyre waste situation has historically been one of the country’s most persistent environmental management challenges. New Zealanders have among the highest per-capita vehicle ownership rates in the world, with a vehicle fleet of approximately 4.5 million registered vehicles serving a population of around 5 million people. The country generates an estimated 5 to 6 million used tyres annually, equivalent to approximately 55,000 to 65,000 tonnes of tyre waste. For a country of its size, this represents a substantial challenge in waste management.

What makes New Zealand’s tyre waste problem structurally different from European markets is the country’s geographic isolation. Unlike a French or German tyre recycler who can access nearby European markets for crumb rubber, rubber-modified asphalt, or civil engineering bale supply, New Zealand tyre processors face significant sea freight costs to reach the nearest substantial export markets in Australia or Asia. The economics of exporting bulky, relatively low-value used tyres or processed tyre products are fundamentally different in New Zealand compared to a well-connected continental market. This geographic reality has historically made it difficult to establish financially viable domestic processing operations without external funding support.

The consequence was widespread tyre stockpiling and illegal disposal for many years. Estimates before TYREP’s establishment suggested that a very large proportion of New Zealand’s annual tyre generation was going to stockpile, landfill, or illegal dumping. Stockpiled tyres represent significant fire risk, mosquito breeding habitat, and environmental blight; several large New Zealand tyre stockpile fires in the 1990s and 2000s generated public and regulatory pressure for a structured management solution.

Gradeall International supplies tyre processing equipment to New Zealand operations from its manufacturing base in Dungannon, Northern Ireland. The MKII tyre baler, truck tyre sidewall cutter, tyre rim separator, and the full tyre recycling equipment range serve New Zealand processors. With nearly 40 years of manufacturing experience and equipment deployed in over 100 countries, including New Zealand, Gradeall understands the specific challenges and opportunities of the Kiwi tyre recycling market.

TYREP: The Tyre Stewardship New Zealand Programme

Tyre Stewardship New Zealand, operating as TYREP, was established in 2015 as a product stewardship scheme under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008. TYREP represents the organised response of New Zealand’s tyre industry to the country’s tyre waste problem, providing the funding mechanism that makes domestic collection and processing economically viable when export economics alone would not support it.

The stewardship fee mechanism. TYREP participating importers pay a stewardship fee for each tyre brought into New Zealand, with rates varying by tyre category. Car and light vehicle tyres, truck and bus tyres, motorcycle tyres, and OTR tyres each attract different fee rates reflecting their relative weight and the cost of managing them. These fees accumulate the fund from which TYREP pays accredited collectors and processors for the tyres they handle.

The fee structure is transparent and publicly reported. TYREP publishes annual reports documenting the fees collected, the volumes of tyres collected and processed, the payments made to accredited operators, and the overall programme performance. This transparency is important for building industry confidence in the programme and for demonstrating performance to the government, which retains oversight of the scheme under the Waste Minimisation Act.

Mandatory product stewardship development. A critical development for TYREP’s future effectiveness is the New Zealand Government’s stated intention to move toward mandatory tyre product stewardship under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008. The Act allows the Minister for the Environment to declare product stewardship mandatory for specific products; when this happens for tyres, all importers and manufacturers will be required to participate in an approved scheme.

The current voluntary scheme allows non-participating importers to place tyres on the New Zealand market without contributing to end-of-life management costs, undermining both the scheme’s funding base and the competitive position of participating importers, who fund end-of-life management that non-participants benefit from for free. Mandatory product stewardship would close this free-rider problem and significantly strengthen TYREP’s financial foundation. Monitor the Ministry for the Environment announcements for the current status of mandatory tyre stewardship implementation.

TYREP accreditation for collectors and processors. TYREP accredits tyre collectors and processors who meet its requirements for legitimate collection and processing activity. Accreditation involves demonstrating that collected tyres are managed through genuine recycling or recovery routes rather than stockpiling or disposal; accredited operators receive TYREP stewardship payments for the tyres they handle. Non-accredited operators can still collect and process tyres commercially, but must rely on gate fee income and commodity sales alone without TYREP payment support.

New Zealand’s Regulatory Framework for Tyre Waste

The Waste Minimisation Act 2008. New Zealand’s Waste Minimisation Act provides the primary framework for waste management and minimisation, including the product stewardship provisions under which TYREP operates. The Act establishes the waste levy applied to waste disposed of at licensed landfills, with revenue distributed to territorial authorities and waste minimisation initiatives. The Act also provides for the declaration of mandatory product stewardship for product categories, including tyres.

Resource Management Act 1991. The Resource Management Act governs land use and environmental management in New Zealand, including the consenting requirements for waste management facilities. Tyre processing facilities require resource consents from regional councils and territorial authorities under the RMA for their land use, discharge, and related activities. The RMA consenting process involves an assessment of environmental effects, engagement with affected parties, and processing by the relevant council; consent conditions set the operating parameters for tyre processing facilities.

Regional council regulation. New Zealand’s regional councils are the primary environmental regulators at the sub-national level, administering resource consent processes and enforcing environmental standards through their regional plans. The Auckland Council, Waikato Regional Council, Canterbury Regional Council, and other regional authorities each have their own regional plans with specific provisions for waste management activities. Tyre processing operations must obtain consents appropriate to the regional plan in their operating region; conditions vary between regions.

The National Environment Standards. New Zealand’s National Environment Standards (NES) establish minimum environmental standards that apply nationwide and supplement regional plan provisions. NES relevant to waste management activities may apply to tyre processing facilities; confirm applicable NES requirements with the relevant regional council when planning a facility.

New Zealand’s Tyre Stream: Composition and Processing Geography

New Zealand’s used tyre stream has specific characteristics that affect processing economics and equipment requirements.

North Island and South Island distribution. New Zealand’s two main islands have different tyre generation profiles reflecting their different economic characteristics. The North Island, with Auckland as New Zealand’s largest city and population centre, the Waikato agricultural heartland, and the Bay of Plenty horticultural and dairy regions, generates the majority of New Zealand’s total tyre waste. The South Island generates smaller absolute volumes but includes significant agricultural tyre waste from Canterbury’s arable farming and Southland’s dairy sector, as well as OTR tyre waste from West Coast mining and forestry operations.

Agricultural tyres. New Zealand’s substantial agricultural sector, spanning dairy farming (one of the world’s largest dairy exporters), sheep and beef farming, arable cropping in Canterbury, and horticultural production in Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough, generates agricultural tyre waste from farm machinery. Agricultural tyre volumes are significant relative to New Zealand’s overall tyre stream size; dedicated agricultural tyre processing capability is a relevant investment for New Zealand processors serving farming regions.

Tourism vehicle fleet. New Zealand’s tourism sector, one of the country’s most significant pre-pandemic industries and recovering strongly toward pre-pandemic levels, generates additional tyre wear from rental vehicle fleets serving international tourists. Tourism-intensive regions, including Queenstown Lakes, Rotorua, and Northland, have rental vehicle fleets disproportionate to their resident populations, adding to local tyre generation.

Processing Routes in New Zealand

Civil engineering baling. New Zealand’s road construction and maintenance programme, managed by Waka Kotahi (NZ Transport Agency) at the national level and by regional and territorial authorities for local roads, creates a civil engineering fill demand that PAS 108-compliant tyre bales can serve. New Zealand road construction involves significant earthworks, embankment construction, and drainage work on both the State Highway network and local roads. Tyre bale applications in embankment fill, retaining structures, and drainage systems are technically appropriate for New Zealand road construction conditions.

There is no New Zealand national standard equivalent to PAS 108 for tyre bales. New Zealand civil engineering projects using tyre bales use project-specific engineering specifications that reference PAS 108 as the technical standard, alongside applicable New Zealand construction standards (NZS) and geotechnical design standards. Gradeall’s MKII tyre baler produces bales to PAS 108 dimensional, density, and compositional specifications from New Zealand facilities. Developing relationships with New Zealand geotechnical engineering consultants (Tonkin + Taylor, GHD, Stantec NZ, WSP NZ) and with Waka Kotahi’s technical procurement teams is the commercial development priority for New Zealand baling operations targeting the civil engineering market.

Crumb rubber. Crumb rubber production serves New Zealand domestic markets, including sports surfaces (artificial turf for schools, clubs, and public facilities), playground safety surfacing, and equestrian arenas. New Zealand’s crumb rubber market is modest in scale relative to European markets, given the country’s smaller population, but it represents a viable domestic outlet, supplemented by exports to Australia and, potentially, other Pacific markets where Trans-Tasman shipping economics support the trade.

Energy recovery. New Zealand has limited cement kiln capacity relative to European markets; TDF as an energy recovery route is less developed than in European tyre recycling markets. Specific arrangements with New Zealand’s cement producers should be confirmed directly with potential off-takers.

Equipment Specification for New Zealand Operations

The MKII tyre baler operating at throughput levels appropriate to New Zealand’s market scale is the core equipment for baling operations. New Zealand’s annual tyre generation of 55,000 to 65,000 tonnes is concentrated in a relatively small number of processing operations; individual facilities may process 5,000 to 20,000 tonnes annually, depending on their collection catchment area. At these throughput levels, the MKII operates at a lower duty cycle than in high-volume European deployments but produces consistent PAS 108-compliant bales throughout.

The inclined tyre baler conveyor automates tyre feed into the MKII, maintaining consistent throughput and reducing operator fatigue in a continuous baling operation. The tyre rim separator handles the rim-on tyres fraction, separating steel and alloy wheels with commercial scrap metal value from the tyre before baling.

New Zealand’s electrical supply of 230/400V, 50Hz is compatible with Gradeall’s standard European equipment specification. Shipping from Northern Ireland to New Zealand involves approximately six to eight weeks of sea freight transit, plus production lead time at Dungannon; planning equipment procurement accordingly is important for New Zealand project timelines.

“New Zealand’s TYREP system has created a much more viable foundation for tyre recycling investment than existed before 2015,” says Conor Murphy, Director of Gradeall International. “The move toward mandatory product stewardship will strengthen this foundation further. Our MKII baler serves New Zealand operators well, and the civil engineering bale market on the State Highway network is a genuinely exciting development opportunity for Kiwi processors.”

Contact Gradeall International for tyre processing equipment for New Zealand operations.

FAQs

← Back to news