Dumping of waste tyres into India is not only unsafe but is also polluting the environment. Between April and November 2023, around 8.8 lakh million tonnes of scrapped tyres were brought from developed countries which are burnt or retreated for selling into the aftermarket, which are very unsafe, Anshuman Singhania, Chairman of Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA) said.

And, if such activities continue then India will become a dumping ground of the world, and anyone can imagine the consequences, he said.

“These scrapped tyres are coming freely from the United Kingdom followed by West Asia and Europe. There are associations for disposal of scrapped tyres in those countries so they have to find solutions and one of them is dumping to some country which is willing to accept, and India is in one of them,” Singhania told businessline.

Also, he said that in the garb of scrapped tyres/ baled tyres from the world over, which are coming in millions, few of them (around 10-15 per cent) are sold to replacement markets and they are fitted in the vehicles, especially the taxi segment in the passenger vehicles. The rest are burnt for pyrolysis, which is a big concern for the environment.

“The other area is that some of the tyres are coming in the wrong classified court. In the garb of any tyres there are a lot of truck radial tyres which are coming in so for that too we have taken up with the government and they are very well supporting us to curb this,” he said.

It is happening across India and the major States which have taken up such jobs include Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

“We are also working with the Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and they are putting a lot of structures to control with regulations and coming out with new regulations to ensure that such units are environment friendly,” Singhania noted.

He said that the industry body has also suggested that instead of baled tyres, they should be cut into pieces before they are brought into India so that they can’t be sold to the replacement markets at least for reuse because of safety concerns. “We are right now talking to the Ministry of Environment for a strict regulation and also the National Green Tribunal,” he said.

Prashanth Doreswamy, President and CEO, Continental India, also said that it would be good if such regulations come to curtail the imports of waste tyres into India.

“Certainly, I think it will be good if some regulations are worked...it will help the environment...that is why we manufacture all our tyres that are sold here, except a few two-wheeler tyres, which come imported directly with the original equipment manufacturer,” Doreswamy said.

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