Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what timetable her Department has set for research and investigation to develop a quality protocol for tyre bales to meet the end-of-waste criteria and cease to be waste.
Richard Benyon: Quality protocols identify the point at which waste has been fully recovered and may be regarded as a non-waste product or material, and supplied into markets without the need for waste management controls. Developing quality protocols to unlock such markets is a joint effort between the sector concerned, the Environment Agency and the Waste and Resources Action Programme. This involves some industry funding, which is a commercial decision for the sector involved.
There is no set timetable for the development of a quality protocol for tyre bales. Work on assessing the feasibility of such a protocol has started, but further research needs to be undertaken, with industry funding.