A new recycling initiative is allowing tyre retailers who meet a strict set of guidelines and adhere to industry best practice will be able to display a ‘Responsible Retailer’ badge.

The ‘Responsible Retailer’ badge has just been launched by the tyre industry and already has the backing of the influential organisations including Motor Codes, the Independent Garage Association’s ‘Trust My Garage’ scheme and the Environment Agency.

Drivers using a ‘Responsible Retailer’ can have total confidence that the tyres being removed from their vehicle are being dealt with and reprocessed in a legal and environmentally friendly manner.

Mike Wilson, president, Tyre Recovery Association, said: “Historically, drivers didn’t really know what happened to their old tyres once they were removed from their vehicle. However, from now on, if they go to a ‘Responsible Retailer’ they can have the confidence that their tyres are being disposed of legally, and perhaps more importantly, in an environmentally friendly manner as possible.”

In order to earn the ‘Responsible Retailer’ status, garages will be independently audited to ensure the waste tyres they generate are collected by authorised handlers who then dispose of them in the proper manner.

Each year, drivers in the UK generate some 40 million waste car and van tyres which have reached the end of their life. Long gone are the days of dumping them in landfills as has been made illegal since 2006.