Chemical Technology June 2015

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Chemical Technology • June 2015 6
REDISA – the recycling of waste tyres
in South Africa – an overview
Why does SA need a waste tyre
management plan?
In South Africa, it is estimated that we have millions of waste
tyres lying in dumps and stockpiles or scattered across the
country in residential, industrial and rural areas. Almost 10
million waste tyres are added to this number every year.
While some of these waste tyres make their way to recycling
facilities via formal and informal networks of collectors,
many of them are burned for their scrap metal content,
releasing toxic fumes and liquids in the process. Some are
re-grooved to be sold as so-called ‘retreaded’ tyres.
TheWasteManagement Act, in Section 28(1), addressed
this problem and envisioned the creation of “an industry
waste management plan”, hence the creation of REDISA.
The concept of protecting the environment by taking
care of manufactured goods from cradle to grave as encom-
passed in ISO 14001, if not practised, could leave nothing
of value on this earth to future generations. Creating op-
portunities for employment was made possible by placing
a monetary value on waste tyres. IT support structures
have been installed in the country as a resource to the new
business owners to manage the flow of tyres from dealer
to recycler. Using existing technology, especially mobile
phones, it has created a virtual logistics fleet.
An investment of R50 million in research and develop-
ment has been made to help stimulate the market for waste
tyres and their components. New processes and technolo-
gies for reclaiming chemicals from tyres are being investi-
gated at an unprecedented level. There is a REDISA Centre
for Rubber Science and Technology at the Nelson Mandela
Metropolitan University, fuelling research and providing a
hub for the new recycling technologies. These will create
more jobs as the market expands. REDISA has a web site
for subscribers ) who are interested in the
operations of tyre recycling.
Benefits and advantages of REDISA for
importers, manufacturers and OEMs
• Collects the waste tyres at no extra charge.
• Has the responsibility of removing and dealing with the
waste tyres.
• Improves the environmental and corporate carbon
footprint.
• Focus on your core business.
The recycling of used tyres in South Africa
was for many years a noble outcome with
many promoters and detractors until the
Government finally approved the Recycling
and Economic Development Initiative of
South Africa (REDISA) [1], in July 2012.