Hundreds of tonnes of harmful old tyres are being dumped each year in Tauranga because there is no financial incentive to recycle them.
Waste Watchers consultant Marty Hoffart has urged the council to follow Christchurch's example and start charging a recycling levy of about $5 per tyre.
"No tyres need to go to the landfill any more."
Disposal of tyres had become such a problem that they were also being slyly dumped around the Western Bay of Plenty, with 50 tyres recovered from a stream near Te Puke.
Neither landfilling tyres nor dumping them on farms were sustainable options, he said.
Mr Hoffart said Christchurch City Council charged $6 per car tyre or $600 a tonne so they could be totally diverted from landfill.
Tyres were made from oil and steel and Carbon Recovery was an example of a company that recycled scrap tyres from local authorities.
Carbon Recovery was ready to process tyres of any size and volume, with all tyre-derived fuel exported to Korea and Asia Cement.
However, tyres could not be collected, transported, processed and exported to overseas markets without an upfront charge.
Mr Hoffart said it was up to the council to take the initiative because the Ministry for the Environment had not declared tyres a priority product for recycling, and tyre companies were not interested in changing their practices.
A recent instance of 18 tonnes of cut-up tyres being charged the weighbridge fee at one of Tauranga's rubbish transfer stations highlighted a possible conflict with removing tyres from the waste stream.
More waste across the weighbridge meant more revenue for some companies contracted to operate transfer stations or landfills. It meant that policies and procedures needed to be put in to place to deal with this conflict.
Mr Hoffart said most countries had banned tyres going into landfills for 20 years.
The council will consider Waste Watchers' submission to its 2010-11 annual plan early next month.
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