TRA, Fighting Dirty press for reforms on UK waste tire regulation

Warwickshire, UK – The Tyre Recovery Association (TRA) and environmental campaign group Fighting Dirty have called for regulatory reforms to address waste tire management in the UK.

Speaking at the TRA annual conference on 16 Sept, Georgia Elliott-Smith, CEO of Fighting Dirty, urged government to work more closely with the TRA if it is serious about a circular economy.

Highlighting “real opportunities” within the UK waste tire industry, Elliott-Smith said “regulation and its enforcement” were the key to making progress.

“It is an unexpected but welcome marriage between the TRA and Fighting Dirty, but we are united in seeking a change to the rules currently in pace around the British end-of-life waste tires (ELTs),” Elliott-Smith said.

The partnership, she said, has been developed as the two sides agreed that “the climate crisis is real and we only have a limited time to reverse it.”

“We can partner with the TRA because we both agree that we have to see a stop to the talking and a start pulling the lever for change,” she added.

Warning against “false solutions” under the circular economy agenda, Elliott-Smith said that new industries must not create further pollution.

“Regulatorily reform needs to create new big industries that stop being transition solutions but create the ends in themselves,” she said.

Elliott-Smith noted that Fighting Dirty had launched legal action against the Environment Agency earlier this year, leading to the regulator admitting failings in oversight.

The legal action, she said, has now been paused to assess the impact of new verification procedures.

“Fighting Dirty will continue to initiate legal challenges when we see inaction by regulators,” she continued.

Also speaking at the event, TRA secretary general Peter Taylor said there remains “a big gap between the stated objective of Britain having a circular economy and what is happening in practice.”

He added that regulatory reform is needed to support legitimate operators and end malpractice in the sector.