Minister punctures tyre recycling scheme

new-zealand-labour-party

Fri Jun 19 2015 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Minister punctures tyre recycling scheme

Friday, 19 June 2015, 8:57 am
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party

19 June 2015 MEDIA STATEMENT

Nick Smith must explain why he scuttled a new recycling scheme to stop old tyres leaching chemicals into New Zealand’s waterways, Labour’s Environment spokesperson Megan Woods says.

“Nick Smith directed the industry in 2012 to investigate a new regime for recycling old tyres which cannot be safely dumped in landfills. Industry groups have spent four years developing a workable proposal.

“Granting tyres priority product status under the Waste Management Act was meant to be the first step in this plan. Instead, Nick Smith has managed to waste four years of work.

“The Ministry for the Environment has announced they have no plans to grant such status, scuttling the entire programme that Nick Smith himself asked to have set up.

“The industry is understandably furious with this decision, after spending thousands of dollars developing a plan to protect our environment.

“Imported Motor Vehicles Industry Association chief executive David Vinsen summed it up when he said the industry was ‘pissed off’ that Nick Smith has ‘wasted everybody’s time’.

“New Zealand dumps 62,000 tonnes of old tyres every year. Nick Smith himself said they leach contaminants and pose ‘a long term risk to the environment’. We need a plan to recycle them safely.

“This is the latest in a line of embarrassing blunders from Nick Smith. He needs to explain why he saw fit to waste so much time and money,” says Megan Woods.

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