Following strenuous lobbying by the Tyre Recovery Association (TRA) to persuade regulators to do much more to prevent rogue operators using T8 exemptions as a cover for the illegitimate handling of Britain’s end-of-life tyres, DEFRA announced in February that it would act to end the current exemptions regime.
The TRA welcomed this news but has urged DEFRA Secretary of State Thérèse Coffey MP to now act speedily, pointing out that Scotland had already moved to eliminate exemptions fully seven years ago.
In a response received from Rebecca Pow MP, DEFRA Minister for Environmental Quality and Resilience, the TRA is encouraged to learn that it is also the wish of the government to now see swift progress in finally ending exemptions in both England and Wales and is moving to the necessary affirmative legislation to amend the 2016 Environmental Permitting Regulations. Read the letter here.
To further this important objective, the association has recently urged the Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Jim McMahon MP; the Environment Agency and the House of Commons Environment and Audit Committee to add their own voices of support. The TRA is pleased to learn that Alexander Sheffield, MP for Rother Valley and chair of the Environment and Audit, subsequently raised its concerns in the form of a parliamentary question.
