ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Tyres Roll against Nature

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Apr 7 2002 (IPS) - The seriousness of the pollution caused by fossil fuels, particularly greenhouse gases, overshadows another problem originating from automotive vehicles: discarded tyres, the natural degradation of which can take centuries.

Three to four billion tyres were inappropriately discarded worldwide in 1998, and each year 800 million new tyres are produced, Walter Tegani, head of Brazil’s National Pneumatics Industry Association, told IPS.

Most of that production is concentrated in the United States and the European Union (EU). Simple disposal, particularly in Europe, is not viable due to lack of space, Tegani said. As a result, solutions are being studied, such as recycling used tyres and using them in the production of energy and in construction.

But the principal destination are underground dumpsites, where 39 percent of the European and 31 percent of the U.S. used tyres end up, according to recycling industry associations.

That option should only be used in the absence of economically viable alternatives, according to the Basil Convention, a treaty among 130 countries that covers the international transport and traffic of toxic waste, in force since 1992.

Among other risks of these tyre deposits is the emission of contaminating gases, as occurred in Wales, where a fire started at a dumpsite holding 10 million tyres smouldered for 10 years.

Exportation is the fate of 11 percent of European and five percent of U.S. used tyres.

It is a form of “exporting garbage”, transferring the problem to others, usually developing countries, say environmental officials in Brazil, who banned imports of used and retreaded or reconditioned tyres.

The measure was able to curb imports, but not halt them. In March, Uruguay was able to force open the Brazilian market for its re-covered tyres after winning a ruling to that effect from the trade dispute tribunal of Mercosur (Southern Common Market), a bloc that also includes Argentina and Paraguay.

The EU has stepped up pressure to achieve the same objective.

Imports dropped from 3.4 million retreaded tyres in 1998 to less than a million last year, while used non-retreaded tyre imports fell from 6.2 million in 1996 to 2.4 million in 2001, according to official figures.

The used units in Brazil are utilised in the distillation of fuels, a process that saves raw materials – like petroleum – and generates employment, Francisco Simeao, president of the Brazilian Association of Reconditioned Pneumatics, told IPS.

Simeao accused government environmental authorities of bowing to pressure from the multinational corporations that dominate the domestic market, Firestone, Goodyear and Pirelli.

The National Environment Council, which unites delegates from the national and local governments, from environmental organisations and other civil society groups, on Mar 21 upheld the veto of such imports, stressing that the retread industry should focus on used tyres within Brazil.

Simeao argues that the used European tyres are the only ones of adequate quality, given the high standards of that market and the greater speeds allowed on European roads.

But Tegani pointed out that the Brazilian tyre manufacturers export a third of their output, even to Europe, so quality is not the problem. In his opinion, imports are stimulated by the low prices offered by those seeking to get rid of waste.

Meanwhile, he added, Brazil must confront the cost of collecting its own used tyres.

The so-called “tyre wars” in Brazil reflect a new concern about the fate of this waste in many developing countries in the tropics. Open-air piles of used tyres are ideal nurseries for the Aedes aegypti mosquito – which transmits the dengue virus – because they collect water in which the mosquito lays its eggs.

The series of dengue epidemics in the country since 1986 contributed to the Brazilian government’s decision to require the tyre industry and the import companies, beginning this year, to ensure an “environmentally correct” fate for the product they are putting on the domestic market.

The resolution of the National Environment Council is “a world pioneer”, because it establishes who is responsible and what there obligations are, said Tegani. The goal is to eliminate the equivalent of a quarter of the total tyres sold this year, with the proportion rising to half in 2003 and 100 percent in 2004.

By 2005, elimination of the tyres, which includes recycling, must reach 125 percent of that year’s sales, thus reducing the volume of the tyre dumpsites. The programme will then be evaluated and revised.

It is up to the industry this year to prevent 7.5 million units from being dumped, because nearly 45 million tyres are manufactured in Brazil annually and one-third are exported, according to Tegani.

The programme will have no cost for the consumer, unlike in Europe and the United States, where the collection, storage and transport of used tyres is the responsibility of the buyer.

The Brazilian companies that make use of the raw material will have to absorb the costs, as set out in the plans of the National Pneumatics Industry Association.

Utilisation of used tyres in industrial generators, in highway pavement or transformed into industrial petroleum or gas are some of the major alternatives to prevent the waste from ending up at tyre dumps.

In all cases, the first step is to shred the tyres, which should be done as soon as possible to facilitate storage and prevent them from becoming breeding sites for dengue-carrying mosquitoes, said Tegani.

One hundred million used tyres have been dumped at open-air sites, estimates the Environment Ministry. Tegani believes the quantity could be lower because not all forms of re-using or recycling tyres are being tracked by the government.

In contrast, environmentalists tend to see a greater threat to nature, pointing out that this country of 165 million people consumes nearly 40 million tyres a year, combining national production and imports.

One hundred million units are likely to have been dumped in just the last few years, argues Karen Suassuna, coordinator of Greenpeace-Brazil’s campaign against toxic waste.