The Tyre Recovery Association (TRA) issued a warning that a circular economy will be at risk and out of reach if domestic processing moves abroad
Data from the Environment Agency show that, since the introduction of enhanced checks in October 2025, fewer than 2% of waste tyre shipments have met the requirements. Of 4,189 recorded shipments, only 54 post-shipment forms were completed correctly, resulting in a compliance rate of just 1.3%.
According to the TRA, this lack of enforcement means the majority of the UK’s 300,000 tonnes of exported waste tyres continue to be sent to rudimentary and often illegal batch pyrolysis facilities in India. The TRA argues that this represents both an environmental and economic failure, as valuable feedstock is being lost overseas while the UK has around 150,000 tonnes of unused domestic processing capacity.
The TRA warning maintains that stronger regulation could support investment in local recycling infrastructure, enabling the production of higher-value materials and creating jobs. Shredded tyres, in particular, are seen as a key feedstock for applications such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), advanced continuous pyrolysis, recovered carbon black for tyre manufacturing, and rubberised asphalt for more durable road construction.
Peter Taylor OBE, Secretary General of the TRA, said: “The Environment Agency’s transparency is very welcome, but the figures are an indictment of those tyre export brokers who continue to operate without conscience. To see a compliance rate of just 1.3% is ultimately depressing; these measures are a long way off having any meaningful impact.”
“New measures need to be introduced so that EA can fulfil their statutory duty until then, the export chain simply continues to abuse their goodwill. We must face the hard reality. Shred is the only immediate route to a circular economy and sustainable future for British operators. Unless we mandate that tyres must be mechanically processed into shred before they leave our shores, we will continue to fuel pollution abroad while our domestic recycling assets wither.”
“Our neighbours and competitors are realising the opportunity from secondary materials. We continue to export the UK’s future in the back of shipping containers, while the rest of the world builds a circular economy. If the UK does not move to a shred-only mandate, we will be left behind.”
Image credit: TRA
