Tyres: Exports
Environment Food and Rural Affairs
Liam Fox (North Somerset, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(1) what volume of used car tyres was exported to the Far East under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007 in each month since September 2011 from (a) England and Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland;
(2) what safeguards are built into the monitoring by the Environment Agency of the trade in used tyres from the UK to the Far East, to determine that the eventual destination of these shipments can demonstrate that the tyres are being recovered using Best Available Technique and that the lifecycle analysis of this trade demonstrates a lower generation of gas and carbon emissions compared with viable alternatives to recycle used tyres in the UK.
Richard Benyon (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Natural Environment and Fisheries), Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Newbury, Conservative)
Under the controls on waste shipments from the EU, used car tyres may be legally exported from the UK and EU to certain countries specified in the legislation for genuine recovery including energy recovery and/or recycling.
Tyres are classified as “green list” waste and may be exported from the UK to these countries without prior notification and consent from the environment agencies. Records relating to the export of used car tyres from the UK under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007 are therefore not routinely collected by the environment agencies. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) collect data for the export of used pneumatic tyres from the UK, and this is available on line at:
The Environment Agency takes an intelligence-led approach to monitoring the export of waste and works with a number of partners, including the police, HMRC and competent authorities abroad to disrupt illegal exports of waste. The Environment Agency also works closely with the shipping industry to determine the final destination of suspected illegal consignments of waste, and takes enforcement action where necessary.