The UK Environment Agency has reported progress in its enhanced monitoring of waste tire exports from England, while warning that significant compliance gaps remain. According to an August 2026 update covering information notices issued between October 1, 2025 and July 31, 2026, the regulator had received details of 10,822 waste tire shipments by August 3. Of the 5,819 shipments that had reached the 16-week deadline for evidence confirming arrival at their intended destination, 3,837 shipments, or 62.12%, were recorded as fully or partially compliant, while 1,091 shipments, or 17.66%, were classified as non-compliant. Full compliance increased from 7.25% in early May to 15.67% by August 3. The Environment Agency has now moved exporters onto an interim compliance system ahead of digital waste tracking planned for 2027, while enforcement against operators with persistently poor performance has included fixed penalties, prohibition notices and formal warnings.

Enhanced checks cover more than 10,000 tire shipments

The Environment Agency introduced enhanced checks on waste tire exports from England in October 2025. The measures are intended to establish where exported tires are sent, verify whether shipments reach their stated destinations and assess whether the waste is managed in a manner that protects the environment.

By August 3, 2026, the regulator had received information covering 10,822 shipments. Of these, 5,819 had reached the 16-week deadline by which exporters were expected to provide evidence confirming arrival at the receiving facility.

More than 62% recorded as fully or partially compliant

The Environment Agency reported that 3,837 shipments reaching the evidence deadline, equivalent to 62.12%, were either fully or partially compliant. Another 1,091 shipments, or 17.66%, were recorded as non-compliant.

Full compliance increased from 7.25% in early May to 15.67% on August 3. The regulator said the improvement indicates that its interventions are having an effect and that the quality of evidence submitted by exporters is improving.

The agency cautioned, however, that a substantial volume of submitted evidence was still awaiting assessment. As a result, some shipments currently recorded as having insufficient or no evidence may already have documentation awaiting review.

New interim compliance regime started in August

From August 1, 2026, waste tire exporters moved to a new interim compliance approach. The Environment Agency said the system is intended to maintain proportionate oversight while allowing enforcement resources to concentrate on higher-risk activity before digital waste tracking begins in 2027.

The interim approach contains two principal requirements. Exporters must submit Annex VII shipment information for each calendar month by the 21st day of the following month. Monthly reporting is expected to continue until October 2027.

New Indian treatment facilities require prior review

The second element of the interim system applies to destination facilities in India. Exporters must provide the Environment Agency with details of any new Indian treatment facility before sending waste tires to that site.

This requirement gives the regulator an opportunity to review destinations before shipments begin, adding another level of oversight to an export route that has received considerable attention from regulators, the tire recycling industry and policymakers.

Return evidence remains required for earlier shipments

The Environment Agency will continue tracking shipments made up to and including July 31, 2026 that had not yet reached their 16-week evidence deadline when the interim regime began.

All return tracking evidence for those shipments must be submitted by November 20, 2026. This means the earlier enhanced compliance program will continue operating alongside the newer reporting system for a transitional period.

Environment Agency steps up enforcement

The regulator said information gathered through the enhanced checks has created a substantial evidence base on exporter performance. Enforcement resources are now being focused on operators that have demonstrated consistently poor compliance.

Measures include formal warning letters and prohibition notices, with exporters instructed to improve both the quality and timeliness of evidence. If performance does not improve sufficiently, the Environment Agency said it may impose additional requirements before shipments take place, demand further return tracking evidence, issue additional prohibition notices or use other regulatory powers.

Five penalties issued and 26 prohibition notices served

As of the August update, the Environment Agency had issued five fixed penalty notices and was considering a further 39. It had also served 26 prohibition notices preventing further exports.

The regulator had sent 32 warnings concerning geotagged photographic evidence and another 31 warnings relating to Annex VII information. These actions form part of the agency’s wider effort to improve traceability and verify the destination and treatment of exported end-of-life tires.

Export traceability remains central issue for tire recycling sector

The regulatory initiative addresses one of the central issues surrounding international movements of end-of-life tires: establishing reliable evidence that exported material reaches the declared facility and is treated through legitimate waste management or tire recycling operations.

Improved traceability can help regulators distinguish compliant international recycling and recovery routes from shipments where destination or treatment cannot be adequately demonstrated. It can also provide greater transparency for UK tire collectors, recyclers and exporters operating within regulated waste markets.

Further compliance data expected in October

The Environment Agency expects to issue another progress update in mid-October 2026 covering information received between July and September. A subsequent update is planned for mid-January 2027 and is expected to include the vast majority of shipments covered by the expired enhanced compliance notices.

Data generated under the separate interim compliance approach introduced on August 1 will be reported independently. The continuing publication of shipment and enforcement information is intended to show how effectively exporters are meeting their legal obligations as England moves toward digital waste tracking.

Original publication by the UK Environment Agency.