The €700,000 budget allocated to the recent farm waste tyre collection initiative has been fully expended, according to the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Richard Bruton.
In total, approximately 4,253t of tyres were collected from the four bring centres organised in recent weeks.
Collections took place in: Cootehill Mart, Co. Cavan; New Ross Mart, Co. Wexford; Athenry Mart, Co. Galway; and Gort Drum Mines, Monard, Co. Tipperary.
These locations were chosen because they represent a good geographical spread, the minister explained. The removal of the tyres from the four bring centres around the country was undertaken by the Irish Farm Film Producers Group (IFFPG).
The first 3t of tyres brought to one of the bring centres by a farmer was accepted at a subsidised rate of €15/t. After that, farmers had to pay the market rate of €160/t for every tonne thereafter, according to the IFFPG.
It was previously indicated that the possibility of running additional bring centres would be examined after the initial four events had taken place.
Minister Bruton has been fielding a number of parliamentary questions regarding whether or not additional centres will be organised in counties where a collection has not already occurred.
Commenting on the initiative, the chairman of the Irish Farmers’ Association’s (IFA’s) Environment Committee, Thomas Cooney, previously said: “We are getting a lot of requests from farmers in other counties saying there is need for a waste tyre bring centre in their region.
“The turnout for this scheme, coupled with the 27,000t of plastic that farmers recycle annually, shows the huge willingness among farmers to protect the environment.”