Used Tyre Management

Used Tyre Management - the problems and the issues

The EU Landfill Directive prohibited the landfilling of whole tyres from 1st July 2003 in all EU states and will ban the landfilling of even shredded tyres by 1st July 2006. Fortunately, however, the UK has a well-developed collections system and a very diverse recycling infrastructure for old tyres compared to many other countries. In Britain almost all now go to some form of beneficial re-use.

Britain’s motorists, hauliers and others collectively generate over 400,000 of waste tyres annually. Industry estimates suggest that at least three quarters of these are already re-used in some form or other, whether this be as valuable fuel in cement kilns, carpet underlay, sports and recreational surfaces, granulates and other useful products and in the truck sector retreading is a major life-extending process. At the same time the number of new tyres for old tyres continues to increase while there exists considerable capacity for our cement kilns to take additional tonnages. In fact tyres have a very high calorific value, not dissimilar to that of coal and when burned as a co-fuel can improve combustion quality considerably.

For all these reasons, and with the help of industry-led best practice initiatives there is the real prospect that the UK will continue to meet the terms of this major new EU Directive.

If there is a downside to this very positive story it is that beneficial and responsible recycling comes at a price – albeit a modest one. However small though, it is one which some at least still seem willing to pay and some part of our country still face the continuing scourge of fly-tipping.

To promote more robust standards in the collection and disposal of end-of-life tyres and to help eradicate this illegal action and the rogue operators who drive it the industry launched its Responsible Recycler Scheme in late 1999 and although just a few years old, this flagship initiative has come a long way in a short time.