The Tyre Recovery Association’s 2026 Briefing Day put waste regulation and domestic tyre recovery markets firmly on the agenda, but produced no fixed date for the withdrawal of the T8 exemption. The meeting came just over two weeks before mandatory Digital Waste Tracking begins for permitted and licensed waste-receiving sites in England and Wales on 1 October.
The Tyre Recovery Association held its annual Briefing Day at Coombe Abbey Hotel near Coventry on 15 September under the theme “Giving REAL Meaning to the Circular Economy”.
The programme brought together Tessa Munt MP, former Defra Secretary of State George Eustice, Environment Agency representatives and tyre recovery specialists, with sessions covering Digital Waste Tracking, T8 transitional arrangements, rubber-modified bitumen, market data and green procurement. Eustice served as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from February 2020 until September 2022.
For businesses operating under the T8 exemption, the direction of government policy is settled but the timing is not.
Defra confirmed in a parliamentary answer on 7 September that it was finalising legislation to withdraw the exemption and that the legislation would be laid in Parliament “when parliamentary time allows”. No commencement date was given.
The Government’s published waste exemption reforms are explicit that T8 will be removed. Operators currently using it will have to move into the permitting regime or cease the activities covered by the exemption. The reforms provide for a three-month transition beginning when the relevant amendments come into force.
That means the three-month period is not yet running. Until the legislation is laid and comes into force, operators cannot calculate a final date for T8 activity.
Current Environment Agency guidance continues to present T8 as an available exemption in England. It covers limited mechanical treatment of end-of-life tyres, including shredding, granulating, baling and retreading, subject to quantity, storage and operational conditions.
Digital Waste Tracking presents a more immediate compliance requirement.
From 1 October 2026, organisations permitted or licensed to receive controlled waste in England and Wales must record every load they receive using the new reporting service. Records must be submitted within two working days, starting from the day after the waste is received.
The contrast is significant for operators preparing for regulatory change. Digital Waste Tracking has a fixed implementation date and reporting timetable, while the start of the T8 transition remains dependent on legislation that has yet to come into force.
Regulation was not the only focus at Coombe Abbey. TRA also placed domestic markets for recovered tyre materials on the agenda, including a dedicated session on rubber-modified bitumen and asphalt.
The association has presented road applications as a potentially larger outlet for recovered rubber, alongside wider discussions around procurement, recycling capacity and other uses for tyre-derived materials. Those opportunities remain a market-development question rather than an answer to the immediate regulatory position.
For the tyre recovery sector, the next firm milestone is now 1 October and the introduction of mandatory Digital Waste Tracking for permitted and licensed receiving sites in England and Wales.
On T8, the policy decision has been made. What operators still do not have is the date on which the three-month transition will begin.
Tags: T8 waste exemption, Tyre Recovery Association, TRA Briefing Day, Digital Waste Tracking, tyre recovery, end-of-life tyres, waste regulation, Environment Agency, circular economy, rubber-modified asphalt
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