Tyre waste management gets ISO 14001

Admiring Goodyear’s thriving vegetable garden are (from left) Alison Jacobs (Public Relations Officer, Khangela Hygiene and Industrial Services), Rene van der Merwe (Risk Control Manager, Goodyear), Howard Bulkin (Manager: Green Projects, The Waste Trade Company) and Louis Rossouw (Special Projects Manager: The Waste Trade Company). The ‘pots’ in which the vegetables grow are made from old tyres, while left over canteen food is used as compost.

Their various innovative waste management systems include colour-coded bins to promote recycling throughout the plant, a vegetable garden and an on-site aviary to ensure that even breadcrumbs from the canteen do not go to waste.

Goodyear risk control manager Rene van der Merwe said, “The company is ISO 14001 accredited and we insist that our vendors and their sub-contractors operate according to these principles. However, it has been quite onerous financially for the smaller companies to get the necessary certification.” Annual ISO certification fees, which include a full audit are in the region of R120&nbps;000.

Award positions the company well

“This provider accreditation positions Goodyear well in terms of the new Waste Act, which requires companies to declare what waste is generated, where it is taken and what people are doing with it. The whole stream of waste and the various handlers are audited to ensure compliance with the Waste Act,” states Howard Bulkin, manager: Green Projects at the Waste Trade Company.

Goodyear, however, already carries out its own audits on all its waste vendors and their sub-contractors, based on ISO 14001 and other stringent principles. Van der Merwe added, “The company is a zero-waste-to-landfill facility. Our philosophy is to segregate, re-use and recycle to ensure we do not have an impact on our environment. Non-recyclable waste is thermally destructed, and the ash is used in brick making. We make sure that our waste contractors and their sub-contractors apply the same philosophy.”

Bulkin said it was likely that ISO 14001 compliance would become compulsory in the near future. “As our non-renewable resources diminish and pollution increases, we have to change the way we live - our habits and our lifestyles have to change. People must not underestimate the impact that their single act can have.

“With a company like Goodyear promoting a culture of recycling throughout the factory, it has the means to affect a lot of people in the community.”

ISO training for subcontractors

In the run-up to the cleaning group's successful accreditation, Goodyear initiated a joint venture with its two providers to set up on-site ISO 14001 waste management training as a way of uplifting existing and potential sub-contractors. Thus far, nine sub-contractors have completed the first of several training sessions.

The Waste Trade Company's Louis Roussouw, special projects manager for the tyre industry, said, “It's an eye opener for them. They see how serious ISO 14001 is and how doors can open for them if they are compliant.”

Khangela Hygiene and Industrial Services PRO Alison Jacobs said, “By achieving ISO 14001 certification, the Impala Group of Companies has demonstrated its support to sustainable development by being proactive in social development, environmental development and economic development.”