New Zealand: Extended producer responsibilities for tyres and batteries

 

New Zealand published a consultation document for Proposed product stewardship regulations for tyres and large batteries.

The consultation is about how New Zealand should deal with the waste from used tyres and large batteries.  Product stewardship means putting in place a framework to deal with products before they become harmful waste.

The proposed regulations will support the implementation of the Tyrewise product stewardship scheme and they follow the release of National Environmental Standards for the outdoor storage of tyres.

On the other hand, large batteries are a new product. Transitioning to a low-carbon economy requires major increases in renewable energy and electric vehicles – and both require large batteries. In 2020, an estimated 1,000 electric vehicle batteries reached the end of their useful lives. It is estimated that by 2030 that number could reach 84,000 each year.

Large batteries are defined as batteries over 5 kg in weight, typically used in electric and hybrid vehicles, stationary storage for local use such as solar power and off-grid systems and utilities, buffer units for fast charging stations, industrial uses such as mobile phone towers or data centres.

Already in July 2020, the Government declared six products under the Waste Minimisation Act (WMA) as priority products. This opened the door to regulated product stewardship and guidelines for schemes managing such products.  These were:

• tyres
• electrical and electronic products (includes large batteries)
• agrichemicals and their containers
• refrigerants
• farm plastics
• plastic packaging.

The following rules were proposed for tyres and batteries in the consultation document:

Tyrewise stewardship scheme

Tyrewise is designed as a push-pull model.

The regulations will push end-of-life tyres away from landfill, stockpiling and illegal dumping, towards more environmentally sound pathways.

The scheme will oversee the payment of the tyre stewardship fee23 through incentives to collectors, processors and manufacturers to pull end-of-life tyres through to increased resource cycling. Incentive payments for tyre-derived products for ongoing use will be higher than delivery to tyre-derived fuel processors.

To discourage illegal tyre dumping, the previous ad-hoc disposal fee charged by retailers, and used only in part to pay tyre collectors, would be replaced by a new incentive payment from the tyre stewardship fee paid only to bona fide registered tyre collectors.

The level of the proposed fee is comparable to the current average price of the ad-hoc fee, but is paid directly to more environmentally sound outcomes and allows a clear chain of custody.

Stewardship scheme for large batteries

The scheme includes:

• large batteries used in electric and hybrid vehicles (EVs); stationary storage for local use such as solar power and for off-grid systems; stationary storage for utilities; buffer units for fast charging stations; industrial applications such as mobile phone towers or data centres, and electric trains and aircraft
• lithium-ion and nickel metal hydride batteries. These will likely need to be managed at end of life in New Zealand, over the short to medium term.

The scheme would be run by a product stewardship organisation (PSO). This would oversee and administer the payment of incentives, manage data, and provide governance and operational functions.

The PSO would be a not-for profit entity, governed by a board of trustees or directors, and supported by independent advisory or technical groups.

The PSO would promote circular resource use and environmentally sound management of end-of-use large batteries. It would be supported by regulations and guidelines to push large batteries away from landfill or illegal dumping, towards repurposing, refurbishment and recycling.