Tyre mountain keeps growing

MASTERTON is poised to become the used tyre capital of the world with dramatic increases in the amount of old rubber being dumped at the town's tip.
In just one year the quantity of worn out tyres dumped doubled from 38 tonnes to 76 tonnes, a situation that has helped prompt a special review of how to dispose of the unwanted by-products of the motoring era.
Used tyre dumping at the tip ? like the dumping of derelict cars during amnesties ? may not be entirely due to Masterton drivers getting rid of what they no longer want.
According to Masterton District Council waste experts part of the problem could be imported.
Waste minimisation officer Amy Trass suspects tonnes of tyres could be arriving from "neighbouring districts."
She said Masterton charges $50 a tonne for dumping tyres, the same price as dumping general rubbish, whereas Hutt City charges $200 a tonne and both Wellington and Porirua city councils have increased their charges to over $300 a tonne.
"It's suspected that end-of-life tyres may be coming into Masterton from outside the region," Mrs Trass said.
Masterton's tyre dumping charge falls way short of even meeting the cost of disposing of them, which is estimated at $200- $300 a tonne.
The review will look at ways of getting rid of the tyre mountain, and that in itself is no easy task.
Mrs Trass said the demand for used tyres has been dropping steadily since 2002.
This could be attributed to changing farming practices.
Traditionally farmers have covered silage pits with plastic held down by old tyres but the rapid switch to wrapping baleage has largely done away with this and demand for used tyres has dropped off accordingly.
"There are very limited recycling options for tyres in New Zealand," Mrs Trass said.
She said burying the tyres whole was not an option as they don't settle down properly. They also give off a gas.
Tyres can be cut into quarters for on-site disposal.
Deputy mayor Garry Daniel has twice questioned whether an American idea could be introduced so used tyres can be chipped and used in highway paving mixes.
"This is done in the United States and has greatly helped tyre recycling." he said. "Apparently road noise is also reduced as a result."
Councillor Brent Goodwin said, at a Resource Management Committee meeting this week, he thought the Americans used the rubber-infused mixture as a topping only over concrete roads.