A Tyre Industry Federation Working Group has found that a third of all tyre retailers belonging to National Tyre Distributors Association have had tyres dumped on their sites.
It is potentially very lucrative for these gangs and seen by many as a victimless crime.
Karl Naylor, Group Tyre Ltd
And, large fast fit retail chains have said that between 10 and 15% more tyres than they remove from vehicles themselves now end up dumped on their premises by unscrupulous traders.
The research was conducted over a year and unveiled by Karl Nayor, director of commercial operations at Runcorn-based tyre wholesaler Group Tyre Ltd.
Mr Nayor said: “There is certainly some evidence of organised crime becoming involved in this trade. It is potentially very lucrative for these gangs and seen by many as a victimless crime. And yet there is a cost to remove and responsibly dispose of these tyres and that cost ultimately has to be passed onto customers.”
Mr Nayor was supported at a meeting of the Tyre Recovery Association last month by Andrew McIntosh, senior policy officer at Defra, who told delgates that that there was certainly evidence of organised crime involved in the fly-tipping of waste, including the dumping of tyres (see letsrecycle.com story https://www.letsrecycle.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=37&listcatid=320&listitemid=9622 ).
At present, tyre companies can face as much as £1 per tyre in disposal costs, with the tyres now banned from landfill sites. Mr Nayor warned that with fly-tipping increasing in general, the problem could get worse.
He said: “The cost to the tyre trade could double in the next couple of years despite the fact that Britain has ample recycling and recovery capacity.”
The Tyre Recovery Association operates a Responsible Recycler Scheme which tracks and recycles almost 70% of all tyres disposed of in the UK.
The association stressed that rogue operators faced large fines and possible prison sentences for fly-tipping tyres in a bid to make a “quick and illegal profit.”
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