TRA: WISH waste tyre storage proposals ’arrogant’ and ‘counter intuitive’

Proposals by the ESA-led ‘WISH’ group have been branded counter-intuitive and arrogant by Britain’s Tyre Recovery Association (TRA) whose members handle more than three quarters of the country’s end-of-life tyre arisings. Commenting further on the proposals, TRA secretary general Peter Taylor OBE called the impression given by WISH that its consultation document was the result of wide ranging consultation to be wholly disingenuous.

“We in the tyre industry were not even consulted by the ESA and I know that other important waste streams have been similarly ignored,” said Taylor adding: “we support best practice and the need for ever-higher standards but in their present form WISH norms are wholly unworkable and would by common consent put even the very best collectors and recyclers out of business so unrealistic are the proposals”.

Since 2011 the TRA has worked closely with the Environment Agency and others to produce a workable set of standards for safer storage of waste tyres. This process was initiated at the invitation of the EA and resulted in the tyre industry submitting its own proposals in late 2013. This was in line with the clear mandate to do so it received from the EA in TGN7.01 (successor to PPG29) which stated in October 2013 “other trade associations such as the Tyre Recovery Association are producing sector specific guidance”.

The ‘WISH’ proposals embody none of the TRA’s own work and revert to storage norms that are completely unviable at the present time. As such if given credence they would destroy reputable operators, while at the same time provide a further unwelcome boost for the uncontrolled export of tyre waste and for the myriad small businesses operating under the already discredited exemptions regime. As a result the TRA urges Defra and the Environment Agency to “urgently revisit the approach and methodology used by the WISH group with a view to re-injecting more transparency and genuine sector involvement into its proposals before they gain any further traction.”