Tyre Recycling for Councils: Municipal Collection and Processing Guide

By:     Conor Murphy

Tyre Recycling for Councils is a growing operational and budgetary pressure across the UK, where fly-tipped tyres remain one of the most commonly reported categories of illegally dumped waste. Local authorities face persistent costs in clearing, storing, and arranging compliant disposal, with household waste recycling centres accepting tyres from residents in limited quantities while civic amenity sites and depot facilities accumulate tyres awaiting collection by authorised contractors. In Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, devolved waste management responsibilities mean councils are working within specific national policy frameworks that affect how they approach tyre collection and disposal.

The pressure on council waste management budgets is real and not diminishing. Gate fees for tyre disposal at licensed processing facilities, contractor collection charges, and the staff and vehicle costs of clearing fly-tipped tyres all represent direct budget expenditure. For councils managing large rural areas where fly-tipping is concentrated, tyre disposal costs can reach significant annual sums. The question for councils is not whether to manage tyre waste, but how to do it most cost-effectively while meeting legal obligations and supporting the waste hierarchy objectives of their waste management and minimisation plans.

Gradeall International manufactures tyre processing equipment in Dungannon, Northern Ireland, with nearly 40 years of experience supplying the MKII tyre baler, truck tyre sidewall cutter, tyre rim separator, and the full tyre recycling equipment range to processing operations that serve the municipal sector. With equipment operating in over 100 countries, Gradeall understands the operational and regulatory context within which UK councils manage tyre waste.

Tyre Recycling for Councils: Council Legal Obligations for Tyre Waste

Duty of care. Councils are waste producers in respect of tyres they collect through HWRCs, fly-tip clearance operations, and depot accumulation. As waste producers, councils have the same duty of care obligations under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 as any other business: waste must be transferred only to authorised persons, accompanied by appropriate waste transfer notes, and councils must take reasonable steps to verify that waste reaches legitimate processing destinations. Councils that transfer tyre waste to unlicensed intermediaries, even if acting in good faith, face duty of care liability if the tyres are subsequently fly-tipped or improperly disposed of.

HWRC acceptance obligations. Councils operating household waste recycling centres are generally expected to accept waste tyres from residents as part of the household waste recycling service, subject to reasonable quantity limits. Some councils charge for tyre acceptance at HWRCs as a permitted charge under the Controlled Waste Regulations; the charge level and whether to charge at all is a local authority decision within the regulatory framework. Consistent HWRC tyre acceptance policies, clearly communicated to residents, reduce the incentive for residents to fly-tip unwanted tyres.

Fly-tip clearance obligations. Section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires councils to take reasonable steps to remove fly-tipped waste from land in their control; section 34A creates powers to require landowners to clear fly-tips from private land. The practical burden of tyre fly-tip clearance, including the vehicle and labour costs of collection and the gate fee costs of disposal, falls heavily on councils in areas with persistent fly-tipping problems.

Northern Ireland-specific obligations. Northern Ireland councils have specific waste management responsibilities under the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 and subsequent regulations, administered in the context of DAERA and NIEA oversight. Arc21 and SWaMP2008 are the two waste management groups in Northern Ireland through which the eleven district councils deliver shared waste management services; tyre management arrangements are typically coordinated through these groups.

HWRC Tyre Management: Practical Options

Household waste recycling centres are the primary point at which council-operated infrastructure receives tyre waste from the public. Managing HWRC tyre accumulation efficiently reduces operational costs and ensures compliance with HWRC environmental permits.

Limiting tyre acceptance quantities. Many UK councils limit HWRC tyre acceptance to four tyres per household visit, consistent with typical private vehicle ownership patterns. This limit reduces the risk of commercial tyre generators exploiting the free HWRC disposal route; commercial tyre generators should be directed to authorised tyre collection services operating under appropriate permits.

On-site tyre storage management. HWRC environmental permits typically include conditions on tyre storage quantities and fire management provisions. Keeping HWRC tyre accumulation within permit storage limits requires regular contractor collection; the collection frequency should be matched to accumulation rates to prevent permit condition breaches. For HWRCs with high tyre acceptance volumes, more frequent contractor collection reduces the risk of storage limit breaches during peak periods such as summer, when resident HWRC use is highest.

Charging for tyre acceptance. Councils may charge for tyre acceptance at HWRCs under the Controlled Waste Regulations 2012. A modest charge per tyre covers some of the disposal cost and reduces the incentive for commercial generators to use the HWRC as a free disposal route. Where councils charge, clear signage and online communication of the charge policy reduces resident frustration at the point of arrival.

Fly-Tip Tyre Management: Reducing the Burden

Fly-tipped tyres are among the most operationally and financially burdensome categories of fly-tip waste for councils. They are heavy and awkward to load, require specialist vehicles for collection in bulk, and carry gate fees for disposal at licensed processing facilities.

Intelligence-led enforcement. Councils with the most effective fly-tip tyre management programmes combine rapid clearance with active enforcement against fly-tippers. CCTV at known fly-tipping hotspots, witness intelligence, and vehicle identification from tyre load photographs have all been used successfully to identify and prosecute tyre fly-tippers. Fixed penalty notices (up to £400 for fly-tipping offences) and prosecution in the Magistrates’ Court (unlimited fines for serious fly-tipping) are available to councils; successful prosecutions and publicised penalty notices have deterrent effects on persistent offenders.

Duty to trace. Section 34A EPA 1990 gives councils powers to require landowners whose land has been fly-tipped to clear the waste; it also gives councils investigative powers to trace the source of fly-tipped waste. For tyre fly-tips where documentation in the tyres (tyre retailer labelling, vehicle owner information on removed wheels) can identify the source, a duty-to-trace investigation may recover clearance costs from the responsible party.

Fly-tipping reduction through better legitimate routes. The most effective long-term approach to reducing tyre fly-tipping is ensuring that legitimate disposal routes are accessible, affordable, and well-communicated. Councils that actively publicise Repak ELT, TRA, or local tyre retailer take-back arrangements reduce the number of residents who resort to fly-tipping because they cannot find or afford legitimate disposal. Working with local tyre retailers to ensure they accept used tyres from customers at the point of purchase, as required by their duty of care obligations, reduces the quantity of tyres that enter the fly-tipping stream.

Council Procurement of Tyre Processing Services

Most UK councils do not operate their own tyre processing equipment but contract with licensed tyre processors for collection and disposal services. Procurement of these services through compliant frameworks, with appropriate due diligence on contractor licences and practices, is essential for duty of care compliance.

Procurement framework options. Council tyre disposal contracts can be procured through open tender, through existing waste management framework agreements (such as Crown Commercial Service frameworks or regional waste authority frameworks), or through collaboration with neighbouring councils to aggregate volumes and improve contractor pricing. Aggregating tyre volumes through multi-council collaboration reduces unit collection costs and strengthens the council’s position in contractor negotiations.

Contractor due diligence. Before awarding tyre disposal contracts, councils should verify that contractors hold valid environmental permits from the Environment Agency, NIEA, SEPA, or NRW, as appropriate for the contractor’s operating location; are registered as upper-tier waste carriers; can demonstrate that tyres are delivered to licensed processing facilities rather than stockpiled; and maintain waste transfer note records. Annual contract compliance reviews should confirm that permit status remains current throughout the contract period.

Civil engineering bale supply opportunity. Councils with significant road construction and maintenance programmes may be able to procure PAS 108-compliant tyre bales from licensed tyre processors for use in highway embankment and drainage applications. This creates a circular economy link between council tyre waste disposal and council road construction procurement; the council’s tyre waste is converted into an engineered material used in the council’s own infrastructure. Contact Gradeall International for information on PAS 108 bale supply and civil engineering applications.

“Councils face the full spectrum of the tyre waste challenge, from HWRC management through fly-tip clearance to civil engineering procurement,” says Conor Murphy, Director of Gradeall International. “Our equipment serves the processing operations that underpin council tyre waste services, and our PAS 108 bales support the civil engineering applications that councils can develop within their own infrastructure programmes.”

Contact Gradeall International for tyre processing equipment and civil engineering bale supply supporting UK council waste management.

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