At the TRA Forum on the 18th June, Howard Leberman from the Environment Agency announced that there was a very strong likelihood that existing T8 Exemptions on tyre processing would be removed, and the S2 Exemptions on tyre storage would almost certainly be tightened. By mid 2020.
Changes Due to T8 and S2 Exemptions
Leberman agreed that this was a far cry from the anticipated original removal of Exemptions but the Westminster government had demanded statistical evidence of the harm done by Exemptions and the abuses enabled by Exemptions. The result was a consultation and a review of Exemptions, and it was fully expected that these two changes would be fulfilled by mid-2020. (Waste is a devolved issue, so the EA and the Ministries can only act on English matters).
Other changes were anticipated, such as, post-Brexit, the removal of no-fee Exemptions, creating a fund that would allow closer inspection of Exempt sites and investigation of illegal operations. However, Leberman stressed that the investigation of illegal operations depended entirely upon intelligence supplied by the tyre sector.
There would be a clamping down on both import and export of waste. Imports coming in under false papers would be targeted, as would exports coming from illegal collection services along with those going to illegal destinations.