WHERE CAN CONSUMERS TAKE USED AUTOMOTIVE TYRES?

There are two ways that consumers can return used or worn automotive tyres: to a garage if new tyres are being fitted, or to a recycling centre in the municipality in which they live.

In the Netherlands, used or worn automotive tyres are returned according to the principle of “one old for one new”.

For every new tyre they buy, consumers pay a statutory disposal fee. They can then return the old tyre free of charge to a garage, tyre specialist or car dealer when they buy a new one, for which they will also have to pay this disposal fee. The end-of-life tyre is then collected by Granuband or another RecyBem-certified organisation, and recyled. At least 80 per cent of the tyre, by weight, is recycled.

Of course, it’s not always possible to exchange old tyres for new ones. Sometimes consumers will have old, worn (winter) tyres lying around the garage that they don’t know what to do with. Quite often these tyres will be off cars that they no longer own. If this is the case, the local waste recycling centre can be a disposal option. They will accept end-of-life tyres free of charge, provided they are removed from the wheels. Consumers can return a maximum of four “clean” tyres without incurring costs.

In principle, municipalities assume that the statutory disposal fee has already been paid for these tyres. However, not all countries outside the Netherlands include this disposal fee in the price of a new tyre. It is therefore advisable to register tyres bought outside the Netherlands, or imported from another country at RecyBEM and pay the disposal fee mandated in the Netherlands.

It’s a new life

Granuband collaborates with 38 municipalities and several hundred car companies, dealers and tyre specialists. We place large and small containers, in which the tyres can be collected, at these organisations’ disposal. As soon as these containers are full, we collect the tyres and recycle them. Tyres that are still good and safe enough to use, we sell on to countries outside the Netherlands. The remaining tyres are treated as scrap. We separate and sell the materials (nylon, steel and rubber) that are recovered from these scrap tyres or make new circular rubber product from them.

In the Netherlands we work together to prevent old automotive tyres littering and spoiling the environment. We also ensure that fewer primary raw materials need to be taken from nature and that CO₂ emissions are avoided as much as possible. In accordance with the principle of “one old for one new”, RecyBEM-certified companies collect over nine million used tyres every year. More than half of these tyres are given a new lease of life by reusing the recovered raw materials as new products. Furthermore, over a third of them are given a second life, as used tyres.

It’s a new life.

And it feels good!