MEN Reveals “Scandle of Dumped Tyres”

A special investigation by Manchester Evening News journalist Mike Keegan has unveiled the extent of the problem of tyre dumping in the city. An inquiry launched by The Environment Agency has begun, following the discovery – led by the MEN – of 16,000 tyres dumped in a lock-up in Ardwick. European law states that standard tyres must be recycled.

Keegan’s report on his investigation’s discovery states that a man named Naseer Iqbal “rented a railway arch from property firm Maryland Securities last October.” After he failed to pay rent, the company’s managers found the building crammed with spent tyres, which it is understood Iqbal collected for a fee.

Keegan continues: “It has since cost more than £16,000 for bosses at the property firm to dispose of them. Mr Iqbal denies any wrongdoing and insists he would eventually have organised for the tyres to be recycled. M.E.N. inquiries have discovered that Mr Iqbal obtained a waste carrier licence and set up Supreme Tyres UK.

Under the 1989 Control of Pollution Act, any business can obtain a waste carriers licence from the Environment Agency as long as the owner has no criminal record. The licence permits them to collect waste, but a separate licence – which Mr Iqbal did not have – is needed to dispose of or recycle waste. He did not need to have one as long as he used someone with a licence to recycle them.”

Iqbal claimed, when confronted by the MEN, that his endeavours were legitimate, and is currently in consultation with his lawyer. The story hints in microcosm at the problems the UK is encountering with its 450,000 tonnes of used tyres produced each year. 2003 EU laws states the illegality of the disposal of standard tyres in landfill sites.