| It is now standard practice for tyre retailers to | | | | Recyclers Scheme also promotes best practice in the |
| impose a tyre disposal charge when you change your | | | | tyre recovery industry and helps protect against the |
| tyres, which tends typically to be about £1.00 a | | | | continuing scourge of fly-tipping. In the UK around 40 |
| tyre. You may wonder why you have to pay this | | | | million tyres are taken off car, vans, trucks and |
| charge - after all tyre disposal charges have not | | | | buses every year, a total of 440,000 tonnes. That is |
| always been the norm. The real answer to this | | | | a huge amount of scrap to dispose of and it has to |
| question is that it is a simple case of economics - a | | | | be paid for somehow. Although the UK tyre recovery |
| case of supply and demand. Going back twenty | | | | industry currently has enough capacity to cope with |
| years the scrap disposal scenario was totally | | | | scrap tyre arisings, the balance between |
| different to the way it is today. It used to be the | | | | overcapacity and undercapacity is relatively fine. Of |
| case that car tyre retreading companies would collect | | | | key importance in the tyre disposal market in the UK |
| the majority of used tyres as the raw material for | | | | is The Landfill Directive, which was adopted by the |
| their production. They used to pick up the used tyres | | | | UK in July 1999. This banned the disposal of whole |
| free of charge (or even pay for the privilege). | | | | tyres by landfill from July 2003 and shredded tyres |
| However, that was when over 4 million retreaded car | | | | from July 2006. This has changed the entire scenario |
| tyres were sold in the UK every year. In the | | | | of how tyres are disposed of and recycled in the UK |
| meantime the market for British manufactured | | | | and Europe. There are a number of ways in which |
| retreads has been squeezed by cheap new tyres | | | | scrap tyres are recycled in the UK although all of |
| from the Far East to the point where the UK market | | | | these can be defined as either reuse, recycling or |
| is no more than a tenth of what it was. This means | | | | recovery. Retreading is still considered to be one of |
| that retreaders no longer pick up the scrap tyres. | | | | the most preferable method of tyre recycling as it |
| This is done by professional tyre disposal companies | | | | effectively doubles the life of the new tyre, reducing |
| who need to charge the retailer for this service. Much | | | | the numbers of new tyres needed and thereby |
| of the tyre disposal in the UK is now carried out by | | | | minimising waste. Retread still make up nearly half of |
| members of the Responsible Recyclers Scheme, | | | | all truck tyres on the road but the number of car |
| which is now administered under license by the Tyre | | | | tyres that are retreaded is now relatively small. Other |
| Recovery Association. Members of the scheme | | | | common uses for scrap tyres include sports and |
| guarantee that the tyres collected are disposed of in | | | | recreational surfaces, landfill engineering, carpet |
| an environmentally friendly method, whether recycled | | | | underlay/floor coverings, and road building. Roads |
| or used as a fuel in cement kilns. As a guarantee, | | | | manufactured using crumb rubber last longer, have |
| members of the scheme are subject to a stringent | | | | better traction and reduce noise. In the UK scrap |
| audit process conducted regularly by independent | | | | tyres are also widely used as a fuel in cement kilns |
| environmental audit specialists. The Responsible | | | | as an alternative to the traditional fuel, coal. |