When your car arrives at our scrap yard, the tyres are one of the first components to be removed. Tyre disposal is heavily regulated in the UK because dumping them in landfill has been banned since 2006. So where do they actually go?
Tyre Removal
During the dismantling process, all tyres are removed from the vehicle. Tyres with remaining tread depth may be tested and sold as part-worn tyres, giving them a second life. Those that are too worn for reuse enter the recycling stream.
Rubber Crumb Production
The most common recycling method involves shredding tyres into small pieces and then granulating them into rubber crumb. This crumb has numerous uses including playground surfaces and safety flooring, artificial sports pitches, equestrian arena surfaces, road construction and repair, and rubber mats and tiles. The steel wire reinforcement is separated magnetically and recycled as scrap metal.
Energy Recovery
Some tyres are used as fuel in cement kilns and power stations. Tyre-derived fuel has a high calorific value, actually producing more energy per kilogram than coal. While this is not true recycling, it is preferable to landfill and recovers the energy stored in the rubber.
Retreading
Commercial vehicle tyres and some car tyres with good casings can be retreaded. The worn tread is stripped off and new rubber applied, extending the tyre’s life significantly. This is particularly common for truck and bus tyres.
The Numbers
The UK produces approximately 55 million waste tyres annually. Thanks to recycling regulations, over 95 percent of these are now recovered and reused in some form, making tyre recycling one of the UK’s great environmental success stories.
Your old tyres will be recycled responsibly when you scrap your car with us. Free collection from Inverness, Dundee, Falkirk, and all across Scotland.