The BBC investigation into the UK’s waste tyre scandal has won its presenter, Paul Kenyon an award
Kenyon stated ; “I’m thrilled to have won the Society of Editors Award for best environmental journalism last night in London, at a ceremony in London, alongside my brilliant producer Anna Meisel, Carl Johnston, and two of our colleagues from SourceMaterial, Jess Staufenberg and Atika Rehman.”
The investigation was for the BBC’s fabulous File on 4 Investigates strand, and exposed the millions of end-of-life tyres we export from the UK each year, to India, where they are cooked in illegal and dangerous ovens, causing toxic pollution, ill health, and sometimes death.
Kenyon added; “It’s one of the biggest environmental scandals of our time, but because it’s happening in slow motion and out of sight, we tend to overlook it. Our waste tyres should be kept in the UK, and properly recycled, not sent to voiceless and deprived communities on the other side of the world. Most of us don’t even know it’s happening. But we do now. Watch this space. We’re planning a follow up.”
The follow-up should be interesting as the Environment Agency, as a direct result of the programme and the threat of litigation from Fighting Dirty, has begun to act on enforcing the regulations on waste tyres that they had previously been lax about.
The programme embarrassed Indian authorities as well, and there are changes in enforcement taking place in India also.
Just how far the impact of the revelations will go remains to be seen.
It should also be remembered that the Tyre Recovery Association, independent recyclers and Tyre and Rubber Recycling had been reporting on this problem for almost a decade and had been involved in advising the researchers for this programme for almost two years.
