Tyre Stewardship Australia has partnered with Snap Send Solve to enable simple public reporting of local tyre stockpiles or dumping hotspots.
Snap Send Solve is a digital platform that facilitates the identification of local issues such as illegal waste dumping and broken infrastructure.
Snap Send Solve CEO Danny Gorog said users capture photos on their smartphones, and the app notifies relevant authorities.
“Now users can easily report not just rubbish, but more specifically dumped or stockpiled waste tyres,” Mr Gorog said.
“The reports will be provided to the relevant council for resolution, as well as Tyre Stewardship Australia, who will monitor hotspots and communicate directly with tyre retailers, state and local authorities to stamp out poor behaviour.”
Tyre Stewardship Australia CEO Lina Goodman said the free smartphone app will help monitor where waste tyres are being dumped or stockpiled.
“If you see some dumped waste tyres or what you suspect is a stockpile, simply snap a photo and send a report using the app,” Ms Goodman said.
“The appropriate authority can then be alerted, and the problem can be solved.”
Ms Goodman said 10 per cent of the almost 56 million tyres discarded annually in Australia are domestically recycled.
“The rest are either exported overseas or disposed to landfill, stockpiled and illegally dumped,” Ms Goodman said.
“Understanding how we can work together to ‘stop the stockpile’ that is generated by illegal operators is the first step in finding sustainable end outcomes for a greater number of used tyres in Australia.”
According to Ms Goodman, there are currently up to nine major known stockpiles around the country, which cost an estimated $5 million each to clean up.
City of Port Phillip Victoria Mayor Dick Gross said he welcomed the addition of tyres as a new category on the app.
“This means we can gain a better understanding of where the hot spots are and thus deal with the dumped or stockpiled tyres faster,” Mr Gross said.
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