TEPA welcomes balanced stakeholder committee

The Tyre Equipment, Parts Association (TEPA), a constituent association of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI), congratulates Charl De Villiers, Chair of the Tyre Importers Association of SA (TIASA) and Nduduzo Chala, Managing Executive of the South African Tyre Manufacturers Conference (SATMC), on their appointments as Chair and Vice Chairman of the Waste Tyre Management Industry Advisory Committee announced by Dion George, minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.

Vishal Premlall, TEPA National Director, who has also been nominated to serve on the Committee for the Waste Tyre Management Plan together with TEPA’s Marietjie Smith as the alternate nominee, says he commends government for the opportunity to participate in a balanced and united representative body to jointly advise and find effective solutions for waste tyre management.

He said he welcomed working alongside SATMC and TIASA as well as other key stakeholders from the Tyre Recycling Industry Association of SA, the Recycling Association of SA, the Waste Tyre Management Forum, the Black Business Council, Business Unity SA, Minerals Council SA, department of science & innovation and the department of trade, industry & competition.Reiterating Chala’s view, Premlall said the complexity of the issue requires the full support of the entire tyre industry value chain to reduce the negative environmental impacts of waste tyres by finding ways to repurpose these into usable materials.

“Recycling is obviously key for the environment and for a more sustainable future where we can better manage waste tyres, facilitate waste tyre processing capacity and help to reduce the negative environmental impacts of waste tyres,” he says.TEPA support SATMC’s call to better regulate part-worn or second-hand tyres, which continue to pose significant safety risks for road commuters and add to the burden of incorrect disposal of waste tyres. According to SATMC, research in 2020 suggested 63% of tyres sampled were deemed illegal, and it estimated there are between 1-million and 1.15-million illegal tyres circulating in SA.

In 2023 TEPA launched it own whistleblower hotline to raise awareness and attention to these illicit parts and continues to lobby for an industry compliance forum to deal with reported cases of malpractices and illegal trading. “We look forward to working with our industry colleagues on the committee in the interests of finding a viable solution and implementation plan for the waste tyre disposal,” concludes Premlall.