Tyre Watch update

Early in April, the Environment Agency (EA) held a press briefing to discuss the latest developments in its Tyre Watch programme. But first some background on the scale of the problem; estimates for 2002 suggest that the UK produces 450,000 tonnes of waste tyres annually, of which 73 per cent are recovered or recycled. 70,000 tonnes are currently landfilled, with a further 30,000 tonnes used in landfill engineering.