The indicator shows the number of end-of-life tyres collected for recovery.

An end-of-life tyre is a car tyre that the owner cannot or will not use due to damage, wear, and other causes, and therefore discards it or plans to discard it. End-of-life tyres are waste tyres from personal vehicles, semi-trailers, lorries and mobile machinery from the group of waste with the classification number 16.01.03 in accordance with the directive regulating waste management, and other scrap tyres that are similar to car tyres in their composition. An end-of-life tyre is also a car tyre that is returned by the end user to the distributer based on a complaint concerning a defect of delivered goods (Decree on the manner, subject of and conditions for performing mandatory public utility service for the management of waste tyres, Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, no. 71/06).

The number of end-of-life tyres is growing proportionately with the increase in the number of registered motor vehicles. The annual quantities of end-of-life tyres are estimated at 14,000 tonnes. The management and manner of performing mandatory public utility service for the management of waste tyres in the Republic of Slovenia are defined in the Decree on the manner, subject of and conditions for performing mandatory public utility service for the management of waste tyres (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, no. 71/06). Since December 2002, the public utility service has been performed by three concessionaires. Up until august 2006, the public utility service was paid for by the users (the “generators” of end-of-life tyres), and the concessionaires annually collected around 2.5 kg of used car tyres per capita, while the average annual quantity of collected end-of-life tyres in EU is around 7 kg per capita. To make the system of end-of-life tyres management more efficient, environmental tax in the form of producer liability was introduced in the second half of 2006. From the viewpoint of collected quantities, the measure proved successful; the quantity of end-of-life tyres collected for recovery has increased significantly. Despite the fact that recycling of end-of-life tyres is prioritised, the majority of collected car tyres are still submitted for energy recovery.

The key measure for success of the system of end-of-life tyres management is the level of recovery or the ratio between the quantity of produced and the quantity of recovered end-of-life tyres (the so-called recovery rate). The average level of recovered end-of-life tyres in the EU – 15 member states in 2005 was 85%, which is currently the target level in the EU. All the member states that reached the 85% or more, achieved this by implementing economic instruments for environmental protection and introducing the principle of producer liability. By changing the system of end-of-life tyres management in 2006, Slovenia also stepped on the path towards reaching the target level. The interim preliminary estimates show that the target level has already been reached; however, it is advisable to wait for the system to operate at least one year after the measures have been taken in order to obtain reliable results.