The producers and importers of tires will be obliged to implement the Extended Producer Responsibility approach as from March 23 now that the Cabinet approved the regulations that define the requirements concerning the collection, reuse and recycling of used tires.

Contacted by IPN for details, the head of the Economic Environmental Mechanisms Section of the Environment Agency Denis Macovschi said this type of waste needs to be regulated separately and there are obligations applying to all the actors involved in the management of tire waste, both importers and distributors and also the ordinary citizens.

Denis Macovschi explained that the tires decay during 600 years and, when they are thrown or burned, they lead to the pollution of the environment. If they burn in an uncontrolled way they emit about 23 dangerous substances and eight of them are cancerous. Toxic gases are also emitted and can be dispersed on an area of 160 km.

In Moldova, three economic operators were authorized to collect used tires and two operators were authorized to treat such tires. The tire distributors are obliged to collect used tires from citizens and to store them temporarily on a surface covered with reinforced concrete and to later take them to operators authorized to treat waste tires. The producers/importers of tires are obliged to manage the process, from the collection up to treatment of tires.

The registration on a relevant list is one of the stages of implementing the Extended Producer Responsibility. Tire producers must register within three months of the coming into force of the regulations through the automated information system “Waste Management”.

In 2021, there were treated about 760 tonnes of waste tires. Over 915,000 new tires, 13,000 retreaded tires and over 280,000 rubber inner tubes were imported in 2022.