Tyre monitoring and compliance scheme TRACS has issued its 2013 annual report which shows that has been a dramatic increase in membership.

Since 2011, the TRACS programme has grown from 204 members to a current total of 511 members.  This represents a 150% increase in two years and breaks down into retailers (416), importers (69) and collectors (26), some of whom have multiple sites as part of their business.  The total number of sites registered with TRACS has also more than doubled from 300 to 680, an increase of 127%.

The report states that approximately 3 million tyres were imported into Ireland for supply in 2012, made up mostly of car tyres.  TRACS accounted for 3 in every 4 tyres imported. Furthermore, TRACS also accounted for 9 in every 10 waste tyres collected and treated either in this country or abroad. 

According to the report almost 45% of used tyres were recycled into granulate, such as crumbed rubber which can go on to form products commonly seen in playgrounds and running tracks, while 42% were recovered as fuel, such as that used in cement kilns abroad as a replacement for fossil fuels.  The remaining 13% included various uses, such as anchors for silage pit covers. 

TRACS Director Fiacra Quinn comments, “TRACS is making steady and continuous progress in convincing new tyre industry players, many of them small operators to put the proper channelling of their waste tyres at the centre of their business model.”

TRACS says it is fully committed to challenging and changing industry behaviour for the better and calls on any still unregistered collectors of waste tyres to sign up with TRACS and to deal with their waste in an ethical and responsible manner. TRACS also urges all retailers to deal only with registered and authorised waste collectors.