UK Tyre Waste Statistics: How Many Tyres and Where They Go

By:     Kieran Donnelly

The Scale of UK Tyre Waste Generation

The United Kingdom generates approximately 500,000 tonnes of waste tyres each year, placing it among Europe’s largest tyre waste generators alongside Germany, France, and Italy. This volume reflects the UK’s large vehicle fleet, its substantial commercial transport sector, its active agricultural industry, and the ongoing high levels of vehicle use across the country’s economy. Understanding the scale and composition of the UK tyre waste stream is the foundation for any commercial decision about tyre recycling equipment investment; the numbers determine whether a processing operation is viable, what equipment capacity is appropriate, and what end markets need to be developed to handle the output.

The data sources for UK tyre waste statistics include the Tyre Recovery Association’s (TRA) annual reports, the Environment Agency’s waste data tables for England, the British Rubber Manufacturers Association’s market analyses, and the published reports of major UK tyre recycling companies. Specific figures in this guide represent the best available estimates from these sources as of early 2025. Given that annual statistics are updated periodically and that different data sources use different methodologies, readers should verify current figures against the most recently published official sources before making business decisions.

What is beyond dispute is the order of magnitude: the UK tyre waste stream is large enough to support a significant commercial processing industry, the collection and processing infrastructure has developed substantially over the past two decades, and the ongoing UK infrastructure investment programme under the National Infrastructure Strategy continues to generate genuine demand for PAS 108-compliant tyre bales in civil engineering applications.

Gradeall International manufactures tyre processing equipment in Dungannon, Northern Ireland, supplying the MKII tyre baler, truck tyre sidewall cutter, OTR tyre sidewall cutter, agricultural tyre shear, tyre rim separator, and the full tyre recycling equipment range to UK processing operations. With nearly 40 years of manufacturing experience, Gradeall has worked with UK tyre processors through the development of the country’s processing infrastructure from its earliest stages.

Where UK Tyre Waste Comes From: Source Breakdown

Passenger car and light van tyres. The single largest source of UK tyre waste by unit count is the passenger car and light van fleet. The UK has approximately 33 million registered cars and light vans. With an average tyre replacement cycle of three to four years and four tyres per vehicle, the annual generation from this fleet is enormous by weight. Car tyres account for the majority of units processed at UK tyre recycling operations, though they are lighter per unit than commercial vehicle tyres.

HGV and commercial vehicle tyres. The UK’s road freight sector, with over 500,000 licensed heavy goods vehicles operating on UK roads at any given time, plus a much larger fleet of lighter commercial vehicles (vans, minibuses, light trucks), generates a significant commercial vehicle tyre waste stream. A single HGV running on long-distance routes may go through multiple sets of drive and steer axle tyres in a year; the tyre waste intensity per vehicle-kilometre for commercial vehicles is substantially higher than for passenger cars. HGV tyres are much heavier than car tyres, meaning the commercial vehicle fraction contributes disproportionately to total tyre waste weight relative to its share by unit count.

Agricultural tyres. The UK’s arable and livestock farming sectors generate agricultural tyre waste from tractors, combine harvesters, trailers, and other farm machinery. Agricultural tyre waste is concentrated geographically in the UK’s primary farming regions: the flat arable counties of East Anglia, Lincolnshire, and the East Riding of Yorkshire; the livestock farming regions of Devon, Cumbria, and Wales; and the mixed farming areas of the East and West Midlands. Agricultural tyres are very large and heavy, requiring specialist processing equipment before they can be shredded or baled. Gradeall’s agricultural tyre shear is designed specifically for the UK agricultural tyre fraction.

Industrial and OTR tyres. The UK’s construction sector, with major infrastructure projects under the National Infrastructure Strategy, including HS2, the A303 Stonehenge tunnel, the Lower Thames Crossing, and numerous other road and rail schemes, generates OTR tyre waste from construction plant, including excavators, dump trucks, and road-building equipment. UK quarrying, ports, and materials handling operations add to the industrial tyre stream. OTR tyres are the largest and heaviest tyre category; on-site processing with Gradeall’s OTR tyre sidewall cutter and OTR tyre splitter transforms these unwieldy tyres into transportable sections for onward processing.

Motorcycle tyres. The UK’s motorcycle fleet, including a significant proportion of commuter motorcycles in London and other major cities, alongside recreational motorcycling in the upland and coastal regions, generates motorcycle tyre waste. Motorcycle tyres are smaller and lighter than car tyres; they process through standard tyre processing equipment without specific accommodation, though their smaller size means they pack differently in baling operations.

Where UK Tyres Currently Go: Processing Route Analysis

Crumb rubber production. Crumb rubber is the largest single processing route for UK waste tyres by weight, accounting for an estimated 35 to 45 percent of total processed volume in recent years based on TRA data. UK crumb rubber is produced through ambient temperature shredding and granulation, producing rubber granulate in various particle sizes from 0.5mm to 10mm or larger, depending on the end market specification.

UK crumb rubber end markets include: artificial turf infill for football pitches, rugby fields, and multi-use games areas (the UK has one of Europe’s largest installed bases of rubber-crumb artificial turf sports surfaces); playground safety surfacing under and around play equipment at schools, parks, and leisure facilities; equestrian arena surfaces at riding schools, livery yards, racecourses, and private equestrian facilities; rubber-modified asphalt (rubberised road surface) used in motorway resurfacing and local authority road maintenance programmes; acoustic underlay and vibration damping products for construction applications; and industrial rubber products including matting, flooring, and moulded components.

The UK crumb rubber market has faced some uncertainty in recent years from debates about PFAS contamination in rubber crumb artificial turf infill, mirroring the Dutch debate described elsewhere in this series. UK Sport, Sport England, and the UK Health Security Agency have been involved in assessing PFAS risks in rubber crumb infill; processors and end market buyers should monitor UK PFAS guidance from these bodies as the science and policy develop.

Civil engineering baling (PAS 108). Civil engineering tyre baling represents a significant and commercially important processing route that is specifically well-developed in the UK, reflecting the country’s role in originating the PAS 108 standard. The UK’s road construction and improvement programme, coastal protection works, rail earthworks, and urban regeneration projects all create genuine demand for PAS 108-compliant tyre bales as engineered fill material.

PAS 108, the British Standards Institution’s Publicly Available Specification for tyre bales in civil engineering, was developed in the UK and is based on decades of UK research into tyre bale performance in road, coastal, and drainage applications. UK civil engineering consultants and geotechnical engineers have more direct experience with tyre bale specification than their counterparts in most other countries; the UK civil engineering market for PAS 108 bales is correspondingly more developed than equivalent markets elsewhere.

Gradeall’s MKII tyre baler produces up to six PAS 108-compliant bales per hour. Each bale contains approximately 100 car-sized tyres, with dimensions of 1.55 to 1.6 metres long, 1.2 metres wide, and 0.7 to 0.8 metres high, and a density compliant with PAS 108 requirements. The MKII with inclined tyre baler conveyor achieves maximum throughput in a continuous baling operation.

Energy recovery (TDF). UK cement kilns and energy-from-waste facilities use tyre-derived fuel as a supplementary fuel. The UK cement industry, including operations by Hanson, CEMEX, and Aggregate Industries, has used TDF for many years as a partial replacement for coal and petcoke in kiln fuel. TDF energy recovery represents an important outlet for lower-quality tyre material that cannot reach material recycling routes economically; it is an accepted recovery route under the UK waste hierarchy, though ranked below material recycling.

Retreading. Sound UK commercial vehicle tyre casings are retreaded by UK retreaders. Retreading extends tyre service life, reducing the net tyre material entering the waste stream and lowering the cost per kilometre for fleet operators who use retreaded tyres. The UK retreading industry, including Bandvulc, Michelin Retreading, and regional retreaders, processes a proportion of UK truck tyre casings; the remainder of the commercial vehicle tyre stream, not suitable for retreading, goes to shredding and crumb rubber or TDF routes.

Export. A proportion of UK tyre waste is exported for processing in other countries, including EU member states and other markets. Post-Brexit exports are subject to UK waste shipment regulations; legitimate exports for recycling are permitted with appropriate documentation under the UK Waste Shipment Regulations. Export economics depend on shipping costs relative to the processing cost differential between the UK and the destination market; export remains commercially viable for specific tyre types and destination markets.

UK Tyre Recycling Collection Performance

The UK’s overall tyre collection performance, while not measured through a single mandatory national reporting system, is estimated at above 90 percent of annual tyre generation based on TRA member data. This collection rate is comparable to mid-tier EU performers but trails the near-100 percent rates of the Netherlands and Sweden.

The UK collection network operates through tyre retailers, automotive service centres, fleet operators, and dedicated tyre collection depots across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The density of tyre retail and service outlets in the UK means that virtually all UK-generated car and light van tyres pass through retail points where collection is straightforward and commercially motivated; gate-fee income from accepting used tyres provides a positive incentive for UK tyre retailers to participate in the collection chain.

Agricultural and OTR tyre collection presents more significant challenges. Agricultural tyre retailers serving farming communities, agricultural merchants, and agricultural machinery dealers participate in agricultural tyre collection; however, the geographic dispersal of agricultural tyre generation across rural farming areas creates higher per-tonne collection costs than urban passenger car collection. On-site processing of large agricultural and OTR tyres by farms and construction sites, reducing tyre volume before collection, is one approach to managing collection economics for this fraction.

The UK Tyre Waste Illegal Disposal Problem

Despite the high overall collection rate, illegal tyre disposal remains a persistent issue. DEFRA’s annual fly-tipping statistics consistently show tyres as a significant component of fly-tipped waste, with local authorities in England recording tens of thousands of fly-tipping incidents involving tyres each year. The true scale of illegal tyre disposal is higher than recorded incidents suggest, as many rural fly-tips are not reported until discovered.

The cost of clearing fly-tipped tyre waste falls primarily on local authorities and landowners. Local authority annual fly-tip clearance costs nationally run to tens of millions of pounds; tyres are among the most expensive fly-tipped materials to clear, given their weight, volume, and the specialist vehicles needed to collect and transport them.

Enforcement operations by the Environment Agency, NIEA, SEPA, and Natural Resources Wales have resulted in significant prosecutions for illegal tyre disposal. Penalties for serious tyre fly-tipping offences include unlimited fines and custodial sentences. The enforcement agencies increasingly use intelligence-led targeting to identify serial tyre waste offenders rather than relying solely on reported incidents.

What UK Tyre Statistics Mean for Processing Investment

The UK tyre waste statistics support several conclusions relevant to investment decisions in processing equipment.

The market is large and sustainable. 500,000 tonnes per year is not a diminishing stream; UK vehicle fleet levels and tyre generation rates are unlikely to decline significantly in the near to medium term. Electric vehicle growth may alter tyre composition and wear rates over time, but EV tyres are heavier than ICE vehicle equivalents and wear faster; the EV transition is likely to increase rather than decrease total UK tyre waste weight over the medium term.

The civil engineering bale market has genuine depth. The UK’s National Infrastructure Strategy, with its multi-decade commitment to road, rail, and coastal infrastructure investment, creates sustained demand for PAS 108-compliant tyre bales as engineered fill material. UK civil engineering consultants’ familiarity with PAS 108 means that developing the market does not require the same level of educational investment as in countries where tyre bale civil engineering is less established.

The crumb rubber market requires monitoring. PFAS concerns about rubber crumb artificial turf infill represent the primary market risk for UK crumb rubber producers; diversification toward RMA, industrial rubber, and civil engineering bale routes reduces dependence on artificial turf as the primary end market.

“The UK tyre waste statistics confirm the commercial foundation for investing in quality tyre processing equipment,” says Conor Murphy, Director of Gradeall International. “The volume is substantial, the collection infrastructure is well-developed, the PAS 108 civil engineering market is more mature than anywhere else in the world, and the regulatory enforcement environment rewards legitimate processors who operate to proper standards. Our MKII baler and processing equipment range has served UK tyre recyclers for nearly 40 years; we understand this market better than anyone.”

Contact Gradeall International for tyre processing equipment for UK operations.

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