Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning
- (a) What steps has his Department taken to monitor and address incidents of illegal tyre dumping and burning in the province and (b) how many such incidents have been reported in the past 12 months, broken down by region;
- with reference to the role of the Waste Management Bureau (WMB), (a) what coordination has taken place between his Department and the WMB to address failures in tyre collection and processing and (b) what feedback has the Department received regarding the employment of collectors in the province;
- with reference to the reply question 6 of 4 April 2025, (a) what is the timeline for the establishment of the four new waste tyre depots and (b) how many jobs are expected to be created once these facilities are operational;
- whether any assessments have been conducted on the environmental and health impact of illegal tyre burning and dumping in the province; if so, what were the key findings?
1(a) The mandate for waste tyre management rests with the Waste Management Bureau (WMB). Although this department does monitor illegal dumping via the inputs from municipalities in respect of clean-up operations conducted, it does not specifically focus on tyres but all waste that are dumped. The burning of waste facilities is high on this Department’s priority list in terms of monitoring and enforcement, but difficult to restrict it to only waste tyre burning. All burning of waste has a zero tolerance in terms of enforcement when illegally undertaken.
1 (b) This statistic would need to be obtained from all local municipalities and district municipalities, as this is not specifically monitored in isolation from the rest. When consulting with the Waste Management Bureau officials, they too could not assist with these specifics.
2 (a) The mandate of tyre collection and processing rests with the Waste Management Bureau that needs to ensure this happens. This Department will process applications in the Western Cape in terms of the NEM:WA. Should there be any failures it is something WMB would engage with the parties involved.
2(b) The feedback is provided at the Working Group 8 quarterly sessions, and there has been a recall of the Waste Tyre Management Plan by National Minister Dion George, for greater public participation, which has placed the roll-out on hold.
3 (a) There are no timelines for the four new tyre depots to be established as it is demand and budgetary-related.
3(b): Once the Waste Tyre Management Plan is finalised, and the extent of what is required to operate them efficiently established, would the WMB be in a position to have a better estimation of jobs that can be created. One of these facilities is earmarked for Atlantis.
4. The Department have not done air quality monitoring to determine waste tyre burning impact on human health, nor are we aware of any such research undertaken in the province.
