Environmentalists warn drivers: you may receive a considerable fine – MadeinVilnius.lt

Environmentalists remind us not to throw old tires anywhere, as they pollute the environment. When changing tires at the car service, residents can leave as many tires as they are changing free of charge.

Road traffic rules stipulate that you can drive with summer tires from April 1, and from April 10 it is prohibited to operate vehicles with studded tires.

In the interactive map “Tvarkau Lietuva”, which started operating in September last year, where residents can take photos and report waste thrown in nature, one of the more frequent reports is about tires left in the woods.

Where to put old tires and other automotive waste

• As a rule, drivers change tires at garages, so they can leave as many tires as they change there for free.
• According to the current laws, tire manufacturers and importers are responsible for handling tires, the seller must inform the buyer that the cost of handling the tire is already included in the price of the tire. Thus, the buyer can bring as many worn tires as he bought to the point of sale.
• Used tires, oil, filters, coolants, batteries and other vehicle maintenance and repair waste are collected free of charge from residents at bulk waste collection sites. Their addresses, working hours and other information can be found on the websites of municipalities or www.atliekos.lt.
• Unlimited quantities of car waste can be delivered to waste management companies, but this service may be subject to a fee.
• The operator (e.g. car service) must accept all non-hazardous and hazardous waste generated during vehicle maintenance and repair activities. It is forbidden to return them to the owner or user of the vehicle. This clause does not apply to reusable parts.
• Old tires or their waste can be handed over to waste handlers who have the right to handle them, which you can find in the public register of the state of waste handlers (ATVR). These services are paid. Please note that both car repair shops and tire shops must hand over tires collected from drivers to legal waste handlers.

Handling of tires for large vehicles

Large vehicles: tractors, harvesters, tractors, buses, etc. tires must also be handled in an environmentally friendly manner.

Farmers can contact the importer or dealer from whom they bought the tires. The seller must take them away and fix them free of charge. Tires cannot be returned to the customer, but must be handed over to waste handlers. Tires for tractors and buses are also assembled. Companies whose activities generate bulky tire waste must manage it in accordance with the requirements of legal acts.

There are cases when a resident, after buying a plot of land, finds waste tires of large-sized vehicles on it. Then you need to contact the municipality about the possibility of delivering waste by collecting it in a detour or contact the waste handlers directly. Some bulky waste collection sites accept large tires for a fee.

Responsibility

Fines for waste thrown into the environment are provided for in Article 247 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. The amount of the fine can vary from 30 to several thousand euros, depending on the amount of waste and whether the discarded waste is hazardous or not.

Environmental damage can also be counted. In cases where tires are burned, a fine is imposed and environmental damage is calculated.

Requirements for tire importers and manufacturers

• Preventive inspections carried out by environmentalists aim to ensure that tire importers fulfill their obligations: whether tire manufacturers and importers are registered in the Producers and Importers Directory no later than 1 working day before the first time tires are supplied to the domestic market of the Republic of Lithuania;
• whether tire manufacturers, importers in the Unified Product, Packaging and Waste Accounting Information System (GPAIS) carry out product/packaging accounting, form summaries and submit annual reports to the Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with the reporting rules for Product Accounting and Waste Management Organization activities;
• whether the persons carrying out the activity of changing tires transfer the resulting tire waste to the final waste handlers who have the right to handle such waste and have documents confirming this, (e.g. invoice, waste transfer-acceptance act, which indicate the type of transferred waste, waste code and weight, waste transfer date) and keep them for the term set in the Waste Management Rules;
• whether the operator has signed contracts in written form with legal and final waste handlers;
• whether there are large quantities of unusable tires stored at the tire exchange site that may pose a threat to the environment and human health (e.g. during a fire);
• whether the operator carrying out maintenance and repair of vehicles carries out activities in non-residential buildings: service buildings (only car repair shops), garages, production and industrial buildings (only factories, workshops);
• whether the operator carrying out technical inspection and repair work of vehicles carries out waste generation accounting and submits waste generation accounting annual reports in accordance with the procedure established in the Waste Generation and Management Accounting and Reporting Rules;
• whether the operator properly identifies, sorts (does not mix with municipal or hazardous waste), stores hazardous waste in special sealed containers, which are marked with hazardous waste labels.