Fiacra Quinn, Managing Director of TRACS answers frequently asked questions about the scheme.
TRACS, the Tyre Recovery Activity Compliance Scheme, is a voluntary compliance scheme for tyre industry operators. It was introduced following the new Waste Management Regulations in January 2008 to monitor the movement of tyres and waste tyres within the industry and therefore stop uncontrolled movement of waste tyres. There are over 35,000 tonnes of waste tyres produced in Ireland each year. This was not being monitored and it was not known where significant numbers of waste tyres were ending up. The tyre industry was being incorrectly blamed for the dumping of waste tyres so they approached the Government and proposed a voluntary industry initiative to track all tyres on the market.
The Regulations do not impose an environmental levy but allow the market to decide the cost of collection and reprocessing. This means retailers now have the legitimate ability to cover a waste management overhead. With regulation and control comes a level playing field where each business can incorporate the cost of responsibly managing their internal waste. There is no responsibility for historical practice on the tyre industry.
Farmers have retained access to waste tyres and there is now an increased availability of waste tyres and defined available market quantity for investors, leading to more competition in collection. The tyre sector now has a low cost and efficient compliance scheme which does not levy a deposit or collect a tipping fee.
The alternative is the imposition of a scheme by the Minister that requires additional information to be submitted, that will require a mandatory non-visible deposit charge to be passed down through the supply chain and administered by a scheme that will also control the waste flows.
TRACS is a not for profit audited company that has been approved by the Minister as a compliance scheme. It has a required number of subscribers (trustees) and a Board comprising independents and some involved in the tyre industry. Subscribers and/or Board Members from the tyre industry have no involvement in the day to day management and operation of TRACS.
This is the initial structure of TRACS but we would like to see as wide a representation as possible on the Board and encourage active participation from all members.
The only information required from importers is the quantity and category of tyres. TRACS does not need to know country of origin, supplier details or the brand of tyres that has been imported. Nor does it need to know anything concerning values or commercial arrangements. Where a member has difficulty with this, TRACS can assist.
To reconcile the mass flow of tyres through the supply chain, TRACS needs details on quantities and categories of tyres being supplied in Ireland from the point of import. After this point, TRACS needs to know additional details of tyres sourced in the country for wholesale, concerning where the tyres came from and where they are going to. At the point of retail, TRACS needs to know additional details of tyres sourced in the country for replacement fitting concerning only where the tyres came from, but not the customer, as it is at this point that a waste tyre is generated from a replacement fitting.
Finally information is required from the waste collector concerning customers collected from, quantities and categories. In this way the movement of tyres through the supply chain will be reconciled.
TRACS has adopted best in practice security and data management systems and procedures to ensure that any information submitted by members is kept completely confidential and secure. Strict controls ensure no information can be reproduced other than in aggregate as required under the Regulations. Anonymity is guaranteed.
