Repak Elt responds to ITIA statement

Repak ELT has responded to a statement from the Irish Tyre Industry Association (ITIA), which appeared on TyreTrade.ie last month.

In a Letter to the Editor Repak ELT writes:

Dear Editor

I appreciate the ‘Right of Reply’ afforded to Repak ELT in response to the Irish Tyre Industry Association’s (ITIA) statement printed in your publication on Oct 21st, 2015.

It was extremely disappointing to note ITIA’s assertion that Repak ELT along with Kevin Farrell, who has decades of experience in the tyre industry and served with pride as President of ITIA, had acted inappropriately in the incorporation of Repak ELT. There is nothing whatsoever irregular or inappropriate about the manner in which Repak ELT was incorporated, nor with the actions of Kevin Farrell or indeed any of Repak ELT’s officers.

Under the Companies Act 2014, Repak ELT was required to identify one of its member organisations as subscriber in the process of its incorporation as a not for profit company, limited by guarantee and the facts of its incorporation are as follows:

July 17th 2015:
Squarefit Limited, of which Kevin Farrell is Managing Director, became the first member of Repak ELT. Mr Farrell was then President of the ITIA, which at that time was participating in the full consultation process with the Department of the Environment and Repak ELT on the introduction of a Producer Responsibility Initiative scheme for the tyre industry.

September 10th 2015:

The ITIA voted to opt out of the engagement process with the Department and Repak ELT. Mr Farrell made known his disagreement with the decision of the ITIA and resigned his position as President of the association.

October 6th 2015: Mr Farrell was appointed as a board member of Repak ELT, his role being voluntary and unpaid.
Throughout this process Kevin Farrell, together with Repak ELT, acted with the utmost integrity in pursuing the development of a robust End of Life Tyre scheme (ELT) in the best interest of the tyre industry and similar to the highly effective schemes operating in some 20 countries across the EU. The scourge of illegal dumping of tyres and the lack of transparency on tyres entering the market has to come to an end if the industry is to protect legitimate operators.The introduction of the scheme is simply to deal with End of Life Tyres in an environmentally sound manner.

Repak ELT is working with the tyre industry and welcomes the many companies that have already registered for the scheme. We will work with industry to ensure the transition to the full PRI scheme is as smooth as possible and is representative of industry needs.

Repak ELT, the body formally appointed by the Minister for the Environment to administer the new ELT scheme, remains fully prepared to engage with all in the tyre industry whether representative bodies or individuals, on this hugely important issue for the industry and the country.
Yours Sincerely, Séamus Clancy. Repak ELT Director.