Scheme to reduce tyre waste now running

Aotearoa New Zealand’s first priority product stewardship scheme for end-of-life tyres is now fully operational.'

Every year, New Zealand imports around 6.5 million tyres. Of these, only about 40 per cent are recycled or exported. 

Industry has led the co-design of the scheme, known as ‘Tyrewise’, which will see end-of-life tyres collected, processed and turned into new products.

Tyre ‘generators’, like tyre shops, can now have their end-of-life tyres collected for free. Members of the public can also dispose of up to five worn-out tyres per day, for free, at registered public collection sites around the country.

A tyre stewardship fee funds the scheme. The fee is built into the cost of the newly imported tyres that have entered the market from 1 March 2024. It replaces the old system of ad-hoc disposal fees that many tyre retailers used to charge.