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Aiming at waste reduction and actually creating new economic opportunities, Fiji’s government is funding the new Fijian Stewardship of Tyres with an allocation of $200,000 in the 2021-2022 financial year, Fiji Times report. “It is a tragedy to see used tires ending up in ditches by the road, strewn across the coast, in our communities and it becomes the breeding grounds for mosquitoes,” said Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum while delivering the 2021- 2022 National Budget last Friday. “Rather than being discarded and left to become unsightly breeding grounds for mosquitoes, they can actually be used for productive purposes. “Through this new program, we will be buying back used tires for loose tire imports and imposing a tire recycling levy on all new and second-hand imported vehicles

Fijian government is exploring the possibility of using end-of-life tires to lay new roads. Fijian Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says rubber mixed with glass and bitumen has been used to lay new roads in other parts of the world. It is a process that Fiji should also be considering says Sayed-Khaiyum.

End-of-life tires present a “far reaching environmental concern due to serious risk posed by the chemical contents and toxins released from the decomposition of tires,” – says Permanent Secretary Joshua Wycliffe. Wycliffe asserts that waste tires are a hazardous waste because they contain oils and heavy metals like lead which can persist in the environment, accumulating killer toxins across areas where end-of-life tires are stockpiled. In addition, Wycliffe says that burning waste tires release hazardous toxins that pose serious threat to human health, including respiratory disorders and other lasting consequences.