A new Producer Responsibility Initiative (PRI) is likely to come into effect this month. In the past weeks Minister Naughten announced that he wanted the new Tyre Regulations in place for July 2017.
Levy
The levy will apply to cars, motorcycles and all HGVs and will have different costs applied to the type of vehicle. The levy on a car tyre will be €3.44 each while the truck tyre levy will be €10.50 + VAT per tyre. The Department of Communications, Climate Action & Environment say that the levy is being introduced to cover the cost of the waste tyres being processed in an environmentally friendly manner.
Industry representatives met with the Minister recently to discuss the proposed introduction date which they believe is too early. July is seen as completely unreasonable and unworkable by the industry representatives who suggest a more realistic start date would be October 2017. The decision on extending the introduction date of the levy lies with the Minister and they await his decision.
Regulations
The regulations will state that the Visible Environmental Management Charge (vEMC) must be shown on all invoices and delivery dockets issued by producers to retailers, and retailers to consumers, in a similar way that VAT appears on invoices.
The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) had endorsed the Irish Tyre Industry Association (ITIA) position in calling on Minister Naughten to allow an Industry led, fit for purpose, compliance scheme, with the expressed objective of controlling the cost of recycling tyre waste.
While reducing the impact of vehicles on the environment would be seen as a positive step, the additional costs will also have an impact on the end user. Additional costs for the haulage industry will further increase pressure on operating costs.