Illegal Exports Of Worn Tyres
We have mentioned before on this blog that it is a legal requirement for car tyres to be completely reused or recycled into another product; no going in to landfill or burning allowed. However, in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of tyres being illegally exported to be used as fuel in unregulated markets.
Several UK tyre recyclers have been approached by so-called agents who want to export their stocks of used tyres every week. These agents come complete with documents pointing to a legal destination such as Indonesia. However, in actual fact, the tyres are usually re-exported elsewhere for use as fuel.
Shockingly, as many as 1.5 million used tyres are exported illegally in this manner every year. This isn’t only upsetting from the perspective of being damaging to the global environment, it isn’t what consumers expect to be happening to their used tyres when they pay the disposal fee.