You may have noticed that one of the biggest National party procrastinators of all time about environmental issues is Nick bloody Smith. Not only has this bullshit artist been the government’s propagandist when it comes to the housing crisis, the bad excuse for an environment minister is also the go to guy when it comes to our highly polluted waterways.In election year it’s no surprise that the bold faced liar Smith is once again trumpeting National’s (non-existent) plan concerning the growing problem of what to do with all those used tyres.
On Saturday, Stuff reported:
NZ's tyre mountains keep growing in the absence of recycling schemeSlowly being the operative word there. In fact glacial or non-existent might be better ways to describe the National led government’s lack of action.
Every year, New Zealand creates 5 million waste tyres, and every year 70 per cent of them end up in landfill, or unaccounted for. Ged Cann looks at why Kiwis are so bad at recycling tyres, and the fire and environmental risks that creates.
They're dotted around the country.
Pockets of land that house mountains of old, unwanted car and truck tyres. And the longer these millions of tyres lie there, the more dangerous they become, posing environmental and fire risks.
A plan to tackle the issue of waste tyres is slowly gathering pace, all while the pile of tyres grows.
With every year that passes without a comprehensive recycling regime, tens of millions of landfill or improperly stored tyres degrade so much that they can no longer be recycled, according to a key player in the industry.
Two years ago Environment Minister Nick Smith opened applications for funding grants to help companies find a viable solution, but he is still unable to give specifics of what recycling schemes might look like, or even when they might begin.
"Commercial negotiations are under way with grant applicants, and you can never be absolutely sure when agreement will be reached. Our best estimate is in the next two months," he said.
Two months eh? If you believe that I have a used car you might be interested in.
Contrary to Smith's rhetoric the Product Stewardship Foundation started working on their plan to recycle end of life tyres way back in 2011. Consultation happened during 2012 and implementation for a way to recycle the growing problem of waste tyres was meant to have started in 2013.
So how many years does a National led government need before they actually do something about all those used tyres?
The Ministry for the Environment released the Waste Tyres Economic Research report in 2014, revealing the sheer scale of the problem. Since then the number of vehicles on our roads has only increased.
The same report said investment in recycling is hampered by a limited market for recycled tyre products, and a lack of scale and funding.
What makes this all the worse is that National actively dismantled a plan that was meant to have started recycling used tyres in 2013 and then another in 2015. What a pack of dumb shits!
Its pretty obvious the mealy-mouthed Nick Smith doesn’t give a rat’s arse about protecting the environment. The current government is simply too busy trying to convince gullible reporters and the public that they’re doing something about the numerous environmental problems in New Zealand rather than actually working towards reducing pollution.
It will be a cold day in hell before a National led government implements any type of proper measures to reduce the amount of pollution going into our waterways. The used tyre issue is just one of many examples showing the only thing National really cares about is money and being re-elected.
