Tyre Export Regulation

The Tyre Recovery Association has warned that UK tyre export regulation is failing, with Environment Agency data showing a compliance rate of just 1.3% across recorded waste tyre shipments since enhanced checks began in late 2025.

Compliance Shortfall Exposed

Since enhanced verification checks were introduced 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, a result the TRA describes as an indictment of brokers operating without conscience. Secretary General Peter Taylor OBE called the figures “ultimately depressing,” warning that without stronger measures the export chain would continue to abuse the regulator’s goodwill.

Feedstock Leaving the Country

The TRA argues that weak enforcement allows most of the UK’s roughly 300,000 tonnes of exported waste tyres to reach rudimentary, often illegal, batch pyrolysis facilities in India. This happens while the UK holds around 150,000 tonnes of unused domestic processing capacity — a shortfall the association frames as both an environmental and an economic failure. Stronger tyre export regulation could close that gap by redirecting feedstock toward licensed tyre pyrolysis operations instead of leaking it overseas.

A Call for a Shred-Only Mandate

At the core of the TRA’s position is a demand that tyres be mechanically processed into shred before leaving the country. Shred is seen as a versatile feedstock for higher-value applications, including advanced continuous pyrolysis and recovered carbon black for tyre manufacturing, as well as sustainable aviation fuel and rubberised asphalt for more durable roads. The association contends that neighbouring economies are already capturing value from secondary materials while the UK ships its future abroad in containers, and warns that a failure to act risks leaving British operators behind.

What It Means for Project Developers

Tightening export verification would redirect feedstock toward compliant domestic facilities, supporting investment in pyrolysis and recovered carbon black capacity. Shredded tyres offer a ready, high-volume input for continuous pyrolysis systems that produce oil, recovered carbon black, and recovered steel, each with established industrial demand. Every tonne processed domestically also anchors a supply chain that can feed sustained, higher-value material recovery instead of unregulated overseas handling. For operators planning new plants, a feasibility study can clarify how regulatory shifts affect feedstock security, site selection, and project economics.

Learn More:

• Tyre Pyrolysis Projects
• Recovered Carbon Black
• Pyrolysis Oil Production
• Solid Waste Processing
• Feasibility Studies

Secure Compliant Tyre Feedstock

Tightening tyre export regulation will reward operators with verifiable, licensed feedstock channels. Klean Industries supports project developers with pyrolysis and recovered carbon black technology, engineering, and feasibility guidance across the waste-to-value lifecycle.

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