Construction sites generate a varied and often underestimated volume of waste tyre material. Beyond the cars and vans used by site personnel, there are telehandlers, wheeled excavators, dumper trucks, rollers, graders, and compactors, each producing tyres that differ significantly from standard passenger car or truck categories in size, weight, and construction.
Managing this waste stream compliantly and cost-effectively requires understanding what processing each tyre category needs, what on-site options exist versus collection-based approaches, and how fleet size affects the economics of each route. This guide covers all of that.
The diversity of this list is the core challenge. A construction site running a mixed fleet cannot rely on a single piece of equipment to handle all its tyre categories. A car tyre sidewall cutter is the right tool for site vehicles; it is not the right tool for a 900 kg articulated dump truck tyre. Getting the equipment specification right means mapping the tyre categories actually generated against the OTR tyre cutting equipment range and identifying where different machines are needed.
The MKII tyre baler is designed and rated for car and truck tyres. Telehandler tyres, wheeled excavator tyres, and articulated dump truck tyres are outside this size and weight range. Attempting to process a 400 kg OTR tyre in a baler designed for car tyres risks machine damage, produces substandard or unusable output, and creates safety risks.
The solution is upstream size reduction. Using the OTR tyre splitter to halve larger tyres, then the OTR tyre sidewall cutter to remove the sidewalls from the halves, produces sections that the truck tyre baler can handle. This staged approach extends the baling capability to tyre categories that would otherwise require off-site specialist processing.
Telehandlers are ubiquitous on UK construction sites, and their tyres are the most commonly generated OTR category on a typical civil construction project. A standard telehandler tyre in the 400/70-20 to 500/70-24 size range weighs 60 to 120 kg and has an outer diameter of 1,200 to 1,600 mm, well within the range of the OTR tyre sidewall cutter.
A busy civil construction operation running six to ten telehandlers will typically generate 5 to 15 telehandler tyre changes per month. At the lower end of that range, a collection contract may be the most practical approach. At the higher end, and particularly for a company operating across multiple active sites from a central plant yard, investing in on-site processing equipment makes clear economic sense.
For construction businesses with consistent plant fleets and regular tyre replacement cycles, the financial case for on-site processing equipment typically becomes positive at monthly tyre volumes above 15 to 20 plant tyres, depending on tyre size and the current collection contract cost. For construction companies operating a plant yard with a large mixed fleet, the payback can be significantly faster.
Construction plant tyres are subject to the same UK waste regulations as all other waste tyres. The key compliance requirements are:
• Waste tyres must be stored safely, with fire risk minimised. The Environment Agency guidance specifies maximum stockpile quantities without specific consent and requires separation from buildings.
• All tyre waste movements must be carried out by registered waste carriers. Confirm your contractor is registered before arranging collection.
• Waste transfer notes must be produced for all movements of tyre waste off-site. Keep records for a minimum of two years.
• On-site tyre processing may require an environmental permit or an exemption registration, depending on the volume processed. The U16 exemption in England covers some on-site storage and processing scenarios. Confirm with the Environment Agency before starting on-site processing operations.
The Environment Agency has taken enforcement action against construction sites that have allowed waste tyre stockpiles to grow without compliant management. This is not a theoretical risk. Tyre waste from construction operations is specifically monitored because construction sites are a known source of fly-tipped and non-compliantly managed tyre waste.
Some construction plant operates on foam-filled or polyurethane-filled tyres, particularly in applications where a tyre puncture would be a serious safety or operational risk. Telehandlers working in areas with ground debris, for example, are sometimes fitted with foam-fill tyres to eliminate the deflation risk.
Foam-filled tyres are pneumatic tyre casings with the air cavity replaced by polyurethane foam. They look like standard tyres but are significantly heavier and cut very differently. A standard OTR tyre sidewall cutter can cut through foam-filled tyres in many cases, but the polyurethane fill creates additional cutting resistance. Confirm suitability with Gradeall International for your specific foam-fill tyre types before attempting to process them.
For a typical construction site without on-site processing investment, a practical management approach covers four elements: designated collection areas at each point where plant tyre changes occur; a regular internal collection schedule to move tyres from collection points to a central storage area; a licensed contractor collection arrangement sized to the generation rate; and waste transfer note records for all collections.
For a plant yard or construction company processing enough tyres to justify equipment investment, the starting point is the OTR tyre sidewall cutter for the mid-size OTR categories, combined with the OTR tyre splitter for the larger articulated dump truck and wheeled excavator categories. Processed sections can be baled using the truck tyre baler and sold to the civil engineering bale market or TDF contractors.
“The plant yard managers who come to us are almost always dealing with the same problem: they’ve got a growing pile of mixed OTR tyres from a range of different machines, no easy way to move them, and a collection contractor who either won’t take the oversized ones or charges a significant premium. The right equipment specification turns that problem into a manageable process. We design the solution around the specific tyre types the operation generates.”
Storing waste tyres on-site is subject to environmental permit requirements. The Environment Agency’s U16 exemption allows some on-site storage of waste tyres at the site where they were produced, subject to quantity limits and storage conditions. Check the current thresholds and conditions before accumulating waste tyres on-site, as these limits can be reached more quickly than expected with OTR tyres given their individual weight.
Rubber tracks from mini-excavators and similar compact plant are a different construction from tyres and cannot be processed by standard tyre sidewall cutters or balers. Rubber tracks typically go to specialist rubber recyclers or energy recovery. Contact your waste contractor for specific guidance on rubber track disposal in your area.
The HSE’s manual handling guideline of 25 kg means that almost all construction plant tyres require mechanical assistance for safe handling. Telehandlers, forklifts, and wheel loaders are the standard handling equipment for plant tyre movements on a construction site. Manual rolling of large OTR tyres is common in practice but should be assessed as a task because the weight and momentum of large tyres creates a crush risk if the tyre becomes uncontrolled.
Mixed tyre collections are possible, but the pricing and the waste contractor’s capability to handle OTR sizes vary. Confirm with your contractor what categories they can accept, how mixed loads are priced, and whether they can transport your largest tyre sizes safely before arranging a mixed collection.
Foam-filled and polyurethane-filled tyres are waste when replaced and must be disposed of through licensed routes. They are harder to process than standard pneumatic tyres and require assessment before processing. Contact Gradeall for guidance on your specific solid-fill tyre types.
PAS 108 bales are generally composed of car and truck tyres meeting the standard’s requirements for tyre type and size. Construction plant OTR tyre sections can be included in some bale configurations, but the standard has specific requirements. Contact Gradeall International for technical guidance on whether your specific OTR tyre sections are compatible with PAS 108 bale production.
This depends on the tyre types and sizes generated. For mixed car and small OTR tyres, on-site processing typically becomes viable at 30 to 50 tyres per month. For large OTR tyres where collection is expensive and storage is problematic, the threshold may be lower. Contact Gradeall International for a specific assessment of your fleet and tyre generation volumes.
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