Three arrested over alleged illegal tyre exports

The City of London Police has arrested three men suspected of exporting waste tyres illegally to South East Asia, the Environment Agency has revealed.

The environmental watchdog announced last night (January 20) that the arrests had been made following a 35-person-strong joint operation with City of London police, which made the arrests. As part of the eight-month long investigation five waste sites across England were raided.

Environment Agency intelligence suggests containers of baled tyre waste had been illegally exported into Vietnam and Hong Kong. The import of tyre waste into these countries is illegally and in breach of the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007 and European Waste Shipment Regulations 2006.

The EA and the police seized evidence from the business premises of all three men that were arrested. Two residential premises were also searched.

The three men, who have not been named, were a 60-year-old man from Chelmsford in Essex, a 32-year-old man from Spalding in Lincolnshire and a 61-year-old from Swanscombe in Kent. The Agency said the men had been arrested “on suspicion of a number of fraud offences”.

Commenting on the operation, Andy Higham, Environment Agency national crime team manager, said: “The UK produces almost 50 million used tyres every year and it is now illegal to send them to landfill – they should be recycled in the UK.

“But our intelligence suggests that illegal operators are charging tyre fitters to recycle old tyres here in the UK and then illegally exporting them overseas to avoid the recycling costs. As well as forcing other countries to deal with our waste, this practice also undermines legitimate tyre recycling business here in the UK.”

Duty

Mr Highman urged individuals and companies disposing of tyres to check that the country of destination will accept waste tyres for recovery and recycling. He said: “The law is clear – it is always illegal to export waste from the UK to be dumped overseas.”

The Agency stressed that waste tyres are a “valuable resource” and can be used in a range of industrial and engineering processes, and in consumer products. However, tyres do not decompose and are seen as a major fire risk, releasing toxic fumes into the air.

DCI Dave Clark, City of London Police senior investigating officer, said: “This case is a prime example of how police and government organisations, such as the Environment Agency, are coordinating their efforts to stop people committing fraud. As the lead force for fraud, we will continue to do everything in our power to support and assist our colleagues to halt this damaging illegal trade.”