Waste tyre plan back on track

Bloemfontein - Government's waste tyre recycling plan is back on track after a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling on Thursday.

The court found in favour of the environment and water affairs minister in a matter against the Retail Motor Industry (RMI).

The RMI brought a case against the minister and the Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of SA (Redisa) to block implementation of the Redisa Integrated Industry Waste Tyre Management Plan.

"We are delighted by the outcome of this judgment, which has thoroughly tested the principles of the Redisa plan and found them to be sound," Redisa CEO Hermann Erdmann said.

The court dismissed the key grounds of RMI's complaint with the proviso that solid tyres be excluded from the plan.

"This is a minor amendment to the plan, with solid tyres constituting two percent of total annual tyre production," said Erdmann.

The SCA found that the references to solid tyres were severable.

"It is possible, textually, to separate the references to solid tyres from references to tyres as defined in the waste tyre regulations," the court found.

"The references to tyres as defined are not dependent in any manner on the references to solid tyres, because solid tyres are always referred to expressly and separately from tyres as defined."

The unanimous judgment by a full bench held that the RMI's appeal should be dismissed.

Erdmann said Redisa could now begin implementing the plan's original intention, which was to remove waste tyres from the environment while creating jobs and building a recycling industry.

Erdmann said the plan's implementation, which had been delayed due to court proceedings for over 12 months, would be ramped up to deliver results.

"We are ready and prepared to move ahead with the next stages of the plan, namely to establish the collection and recycling networks," he said.