TRA Rejects Calls to Delay Landfill Ban

The Tyre Recovery Association has expressed disappointment at possible delays to the July 2006 deadline for taking shredded tyres to landfill, a recycling website has reported.

Members of the Association are unhappy that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has suggested that the deadline should be moved back to 30 October, 2007.

The new deadline emerged in a consultation on landfill regulations published shortly before Christmas, which suggested that there should be a single implementation date for all non-hazardous waste to bring them in line with the EU Landfill Directive.

The market for used tyres is very buoyant at the moment. I think most companies would have no real problems meeting the earlier July 2006 date, said Peter Taylor, secretary of the TRA.

“There was genuine disappointment that the date was changed without any notification or warning,” added Mr Taylor. TRA members companies account for some 80 per cent of the reprocessed tonnage of used tyres in the UK.

“This decision will only benefit those companies that have failed to invest in new equipment and have continued to rely on landfill disposal to get rid of used tyres…I think most companies would have no real problems meeting the earlier July 2006 date,” he said.

Around 435,000 tonnes of used tyres are disposed of in the UK each year. There has been a ban on the landfilling of whole tyres since July 2003.

TRA chairman Roger Hicks encouraged the government to act and impose statutory responsibility legislation. “Anyone involved in the tyre recovery sector has made a major capital investment and those involved need to protect their investment from unscrupulous operators. We need the laws enforced.”