Does my tyre supplier need a waste carrier registration?

If its drivers take your old casings away, it is transporting controlled waste produced by another business, which requires registration with the Environment Agency — upper tier where carrying that waste is a normal part of its trade.

Whose duty of care is it when the supplier collects?

Yours, as the producer. Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 keeps the duty with the business that produced the waste, whoever carries it away.

Does your tyre supplier collect your old tyres?

When the lorry that delivers your new tyres takes the old ones away, the business carrying that waste is your supplier — and the duty of care check applies to them.

What backhaul collection is

A backhaul collection is waste leaving on a vehicle that came to deliver something. The driver drops off new tyres, loads the casings you have accumulated, and takes them away on the return leg. It is ordinary practice in the tyre trade and there is nothing irregular about it.

What it changes is who is carrying your waste. It is no longer a collector you engaged for that purpose; it is the supplier you buy stock from.

The supplier becomes the waste carrier

Anyone who transports waste produced by another business in England must be registered with the Environment Agency, and carrying other people's controlled waste as a normal part of trade is upper tier territory. A supplier taking your casings is doing exactly that, whatever the arrangement is called on the invoice.

Some suppliers collect on their own registration, and some route the casings through a partner collector who meets the lorry or handles the load further down the chain. Both happen. The one to check is whoever carries the waste on the day.

Your duty does not move

Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 keeps responsibility with the business that produced the waste. Handing casings to a supplier rather than a collector does not transfer that duty, and it does not reduce what you have to be able to show afterwards.

Three things to ask

The registration number, so it can be checked against the public register. The tier, because upper tier is the one that covers carrying your waste. And where the tyres go next — the supplier should be able to name the site or the processor at the end of the chain.

Ask how the movement is recorded. Defra's published timeline plans to make digital waste tracking mandatory for waste carriers from October 2027. This is a plan, not yet law. Waste transfer notes continue as before. Any collector — dedicated or on-delivery — should be able to say how they keep records today.

How to check, and what to keep

Search the number here or on the Environment Agency's own register before the next delivery, not after. Then keep the transfer note with the registration number on it, alongside a record of the day you checked. Two years is the minimum retention for non-hazardous waste under the statutory code of practice.

This describes what the legislation and the code of practice require. It is not legal advice.

Questions people ask

Does my tyre supplier need a waste carrier registration?: If its drivers take your old casings away, it is transporting controlled waste produced by another business, which requires registration with the Environment Agency — upper tier where carrying that waste is a normal part of its trade.
Whose duty of care is it when the supplier collects?: Yours, as the producer. Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 keeps the duty with the business that produced the waste, whoever carries it away.

Where to go next

Sources

Last reviewed 1 October 2026. Every link above was checked on that date.