TRA: India’s end-of-life tyre recycling mandate a welcome move

The Indian government’s announcement of an action plan for the management of increasing volumes of waste tyres has been welcomed by the UK Tyre Recovery Association (TRA). Despite the Indian government’s move as a “much-needed response to a growing environmental challenge”, TRA representatives commented that India’s waste tyre arisings have been “swelling exponentially but so too have imports of old tyres from many western countries”. Some of the latter have reportedly “ended up being processed in illegal or environmentally unsuitable ways”.

However, the TRA believes that the new recycling requirements proposed by India for progressive implementation starting later this year should “introduce much-needed recycling compliance as wellas constrain often illegal shipments of tyre waste from western countries including the UK.”

These newly proposed Indian government regulations will require all new tyre manufacturers and importers as well as recyclers and reprocessors to register and end-of-life tyres imports intended for certain types of reprocessing will be prohibited.

The new regulations are expected to enter progressively into force later this year and support a 100 per cent recovery obligation on the tyre industry over a three-year period according to the official Gazette of India (31/12/21).

“Illegal waste export activity involving tyres is something we in the UK have long lobbied to end,” said Tim Stott, TRA president, adding: “It undermines responsible operators here at home where it inhibits further investment in domestic processing capacity and cheats on the motoring public who have a right to expect good practice. Sadly, the UK and most Western governments have been slow to act to restrain this trade but now are pleased to note that India itself as Asia’s largest importer of waste tyres is now doing so.”