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TECH NEWS
2023 Michelin Power Cup Tubeless Ready Tyre 700 x 28C - 2Ban on disposal of bike tyres in landfill moves closer
The banning of bike tyre and inner tube disposal in landfill looks to be a step closer after the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) hosted a representation from The National Bicycle Tyre Recycling Scheme last month and heard that national coverage of collection points for used tyres and inner tubes is in place, according to Cycling Industry News.
Cycling might have a lot going for it in terms of green and environmentally friendly credentials but tyres of all kinds are a source of pollution. Velorim, which runs The National Bicycle Tyre Recycling Scheme, says that in the UK over 9,300 tonnes of tyres and inner tubes go to landfill every year.
> How green are your bike tyres? What the big brands are doing, and what YOU can do to help
Velorim reported to DEFRA last month that it now has national coverage of collection points for used tyres and inner tubes and is set up to handle the increase in scrap that a ban on sending these items to landfill would generate.
It has been illegal to send automotive and agricultural tyres to landfill in England and Wales for two decades – since the introduction of the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002 – but bicycle tyres are specifically excluded from the legislation.
You can go to Velorim’s website and tap in your UK address or postcode to find your closest collection point.
Velorim says, “Most centres are charging a recycling levy for the ecological disposal of tyres and inner tubes, typically 55p per tyre and 25p per tube.”
Although recycling inner tubes is a relatively straightforward process, tyres are more difficult because they can contain features like fibre reinforcement and steel beads.
Velorim says that it has lots of options for recycling the collected tyres and tubes. Some of these generate revenue but the majority of waste is reprocessed at a cost, hence the recycling levy.
The tyres and tubes end up as everything from non-slip flooring to surfaces used for cycle paths and footpaths. Some rubber is ground down to be used as a filler in new products and all high-tensile steel wire is recovered to be used elsewhere.
> Check out what Velorim does to recycle tyres and inner tubes in more detail here
Cycling Industry News reports Dave Hawthorn, Chairman of Velorim, as saying, “This is a momentous day for the cycle trade with England and Wales looking set to be the first place in the world to introduce environmental controls on bicycle tyres and inner tubes that would ban them from landfill and limit overseas disposal.
“Whilst we respect that it will take time for DEFRA to go through its consultation process, we are not expecting objections to be raised now that the recycling scheme is operational nationwide, particularly as the burden of cost lies on the consumer, not the trade. We stand ready to accommodate what we anticipate being a twenty-fold increase in scrap volumes once legislation changes and the public are made aware.”
Whatever the timescale, the banning of the disposal of bike tyres in landfill looks inevitable with DEFRA saying it’s committed to consult on measures that move end-of-life products higher up the waste hierarchy.
Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
Latest Comments
- BBB 3 sec ago
Inhumane system that now will be getting even worse.
- Bungle_52 3 hours 23 min ago
In case anyone missed it in yesterdays blog here are the two pevious articles. The second one contains the testimony from the driver....
- David9694 3 hours 32 min ago
The old role was appointed at the Mayor's pleasure; is in addition to the permanent staff of the Combined Authority. I'm not sure if Adam was an...
- chrisonabike 3 hours 37 min ago
Ah... but which civilisation? If arguing from precedent (or even "moral ground") - with the benefit of almost no political, historical knowledge...
- WillPage 4 hours 58 min ago
Nothing says "welcoming environment" like uniformed thugs, umm I mean "security patrols " roaming the area.
- galibiervelo 6 hours 16 min ago
That is class news. Super bikes and vision. Bet there will be no stand at the Taiwan bike show next year! Big luck to all the team
- Destroyer666 6 hours 58 min ago
Pretty clearly stated several times in the text that the issue was not related just to his son. And besides, everybody watching the races could see...
- Rendel Harris 7 hours 14 min ago
All Fizik and Selle Italia saddles (though not all their other products) are made in Italy I believe, and their 3D printed models definitely are.
- chrisonabike 7 hours 40 min ago
If you're not on the road with a car, I bet its driver is much less likely to swerve into your space *. Because you're not "in the way"! (Any...
- mdavidford 7 hours 56 min ago
The problem with this argument, though, is that it's just not true....
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48 comments
That's because if you put a bike tyre into a car tyre shredder, the steel wire in it gets wrapped around the shredder's cutting head and jams the machine. It takes about 2 days work to dismatle the machine and remove the wire! (VERY expensive repair as the machine has to be completely dismaled to remove the wire).
We have a bespoke-designed machine that doesn't have that problem.
If the cost is paid at the point of disposal then they will end up in canals, rivers, field entrances, lay-bys etc, with all the car tyres.
You'd think it would make more sense that a small levy was added onto the price of bike tyres or tubes and then that was it, you could just drop them off for collection etc.
When you buy a new car tyre, the cost of recycling the old one is included on your bill as part of the cost, but most people don't read the detail where it is clearly shown. In order to get the UK National Bicycle Tyre & Inner Tube Recycling Scheme up and operating, we felt that replicating the approach of the car tyre industry was the best way to do this and all the cycling organisations who helped us do this agreed with this approach. Also, when it is explained to cyclists that the methods are the same, in general they are happy to pay a nominal fee to ensure the their waste is processed in a better way than it is currently.
In terms of getting the manufacturers to pay up, as they are legally obliged to do, we have a solution already that will do it, but we are waiting for the manufacturers to get on board with us before we can make it work. We are already talking with a couple of them, but by all means contact the manufacturer of the tyres you use and lobby them to start taking recycling seriously.
All very green and environmentally responsible. Until the "velorim" webiste suggests I drive the 2 miles to my nearest recycling point...
And GoOutdoors Reading closed last year, anyway!
Decathlon Reading has a tyre/tube recyling bin, as has Berkshire Cycles Woodley branch.
Berkshire Cycles Woodley is tubes only at the moment.
Thank you for letting us know. We rely on the shops telling us when they have closed and we then update the list. I will make sure the list is updated, so thanks for the heads up!
I would walk to my nearest one but it might take a while
I'll see that and raise you 30 miles sir, should you live in NW Northern Ireland
Our presence in Northern Ireland is currently very limited due to issues surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol. However, we do have plans already to expand overseas, including the Repbulic of Ireland as well as mainland Europe.
Scotland is a big area to cover and we recognised the need to register more shops as Velorim Centres. If you have a local shop or mobile mechanic you use and they are not yet on our list, please use the Contact Us page on our web site to drop us their details. We can get them to register with us and save your legs and shoe-leather!
Point of order m'lud. Does the defendant not own a velocipede for such activities?
9.1 miles driving to the closest one for me, 13.2 for the one that's actually convienent.
This is crazy although Ive got a large and modern council waste centre about 4 miles away - my nearest cycle tyre recycler is over 20 miles in a place I would never normally go.
If you take the your waste tyres & tubes to your local council waste centre, they may not accept them as they are regarded as complex waste that they cannot recycle (it varies alot in England depending on the council, waste company, etc.). In Scotland and Wales it is a blanket 'No' at all waste centres due to local develoved legislation.
If you have a local shop or mobile mechanic you use and they are not yet on our list, please use the Contact Us page on our web site to drop us their details. We can get them to register with us and then let you know so you can use a place much nearer to where you live.
Do you have a cycle shop that is closer and more convenient to you? If so, use the Contact Page on our web site to drop us their details. We will then contact them to get them registered on our scheme and then let you know when they are so you can take your waste tyres and tubes to them instead.
Unfortunately that is a Google issue, which is the tool we use to measure distance. It is only meant as a guide and how you get to the disposal point is up to you.
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