Yes. Your old tyres leave with the van, they enter the licensed recovery chain, and the cost of that is already inside the price you were quoted on the phone.
The question itself, do you recycle my old tyres, usually arrives at the vehicle, right as the new tyre is going on. “And you’ll take that away, aye?” Asked casually, but rarely casually meant.
Two worries sit behind it, and after enough driveways in Glasgow you learn to hear which one you are getting. The first is money: the driver is braced for a disposal fee appearing at the end of the job. The second is liability: they have half-heard that dumping tyres is an offence and do not want their casing turning up in a lay-by with a trail back to their address.
Both worries deserve a proper answer, so this page covers both. The short version of each: the total does not move, and the paperwork chain exists precisely so it is never your problem.
The Short Answer: Yes, We Recycle Your Old Tyres, and It Is Already in the Price
Yes. We take your old tyres away as part of the job, and the cost is already inside the total quoted on the call, not added at the roadside. Waste tyres are a controlled waste, so they must be carried by a registered waste carrier and recorded on a Waste Transfer Note.
To expand on that. Every fitted price we quote covers the tyre, removal and fitting, balancing, a new valve or TPMS service kit, torquing to manufacturer specification and taking the old casing away. You get one total on the call, before the van moves, and nothing is added.
Worth knowing for comparison: many fitters and garages do charge a per-tyre disposal fee, and it is a common place for a quoted figure to grow. Whoever you use, ask one question up front: does the figure include taking the old tyres away? The same applies to whether a callout fee exists at all.
What the Law Actually Says About Your Old Tyres
People are sometimes surprised that a scrap tyre has this much law attached to it. It does, and the rules are actually the reason we can promise your casing ends up somewhere legitimate. Here is the framework in plain English.
The duty of care under Section 34
The Environmental Protection Act 1990, Section 34, creates a duty of care: anyone who produces, holds or transfers waste must make sure it is handled properly and passed only to someone authorised to take it.
The important word is transfers. The duty follows the waste, so handing a casing to the wrong person does not make it stop being your problem. That is not written to frighten householders. It is written to make everyone in the chain check the next link, which is exactly what protects you.
Waste tyres have their own code, 16 01 03
Waste tyres are classified under European Waste Catalogue code 16 01 03. The code is how the waste is identified on paperwork all the way through the chain, from the van that collects it to the site that processes it. One code, one paper trail, no ambiguity about what was handed over.
Registered waste carrier status, and why Scotland is different
Anyone carrying waste tyres commercially must be a registered waste carrier. Here is the detail most national pages get wrong: in Scotland, that registration sits with SEPA, not the Environment Agency, and it is renewed every three years.
You are entitled to ask any fitter about this. A straight operation answers without blinking.
The Waste Transfer Note and the two year rule
Every transfer of waste needs a Waste Transfer Note recording the waste type, the quantity, the date and the signatures of both parties, and it must be kept for two years.
Why that matters to you, in one sentence: the note is the audit trail proving your casing went somewhere legitimate rather than over a fence. Domestic customers rarely need to see it, but you are entitled to ask for the transfer note, and a sole trader having van tyres changed often does exactly that, because their own business sits under the same duty of care.
The penalties for dumping them
Illegal dumping under Section 33 of the same Act carries an unlimited fine and up to 12 months imprisonment on summary conviction, or up to 5 years on indictment. Those are the maximums available to a court rather than typical outcomes, but they tell you how seriously the law takes a pile of tyres in a field.
The easy route closed long ago too. Whole tyres were banned from UK landfill from 2003 and shredded tyres from 2006, which is part of why the UK’s roughly 55 million used tyres a year all need a legitimate destination.
Where the Casing Goes After We Take It
In outline only, because we cover the full journey separately. The casing goes to a licensed waste carrier, is sorted, and then takes one of four routes: re-use or retreading, processing into new raw material, use as fuel in a cement kiln, or export. The split runs at about 14 per cent re-use and retreading, about 17 per cent processed into new material, about 6 per cent to UK cement kilns and about 63 per cent exported. Nothing goes to landfill. Our full guide, what happens to my old tyres, walks the whole chain from the driveway to the end product, including the honest parts.
What If You Want to Keep or Get Rid of the Tyres Yourself
Some drivers keep the casings, for track days, a trailer, a garden project, or simply because they bought the tyres and want the old ones back. That is completely fine, just say so on the call. For everyone else, here are the three routes side by side.
| Route | Cost | Paperwork | Practical limits |
| We take them | Inside the quoted total | Handled in the licensed chain | None for you |
| Council recycling centre | Usually free for householders | None, householders only | Small numbers, rules vary by site |
| Keep them | Nothing | None while they stay yours | Storage, and they remain your waste |
Taking them to a council recycling centre
Most local authority recycling centres accept a limited number of car tyres from householders, and the limit varies by site, so check your council’s current rules before travelling. Common restrictions worth knowing about in advance: caps per visit or per year, refusal of tyres still on rims, and a blanket exclusion of trade waste.
We hear from drivers who loaded four casings into a hatchback, queued, and came home with two of them. Check first, or weigh it against the benefits of the van coming to you instead.
Why kerbside will not take them
Tyres are a controlled waste with their own code, and they are not part of any household kerbside stream. Leaving them beside a bin is not a disposal route, and it can be treated as fly-tipping. However tidy the intention, a tyre next to a wheelie bin is legally a tyre dumped on the street.
If you are a business, a van owner or a sole trader
Trade waste is a different position. Council recycling centres generally exclude it outright, and the Section 34 duty of care applies far more visibly to a business than to a household.
This is the group that most needs the fitter to take the casings, and it is also the group most likely to want the transfer note for their own records. Ask on the call and it is sorted before the van arrives.
What to Ask Any Fitter Who Offers to Take Your Tyres Away Cheaply
This section might send business elsewhere, and we are comfortable with that. An unusually cheap or cash-only disposal offer has to be paid for somewhere, and the disposal method that costs nothing is a quiet lay-by. When a casing ends up there, remember the rule above: the duty follows the waste, and the trail can lead back to the person who handed it over.
So ask anyone, including us, these four questions:
- Are you a registered waste carrier, and with which regulator?
- Can I have a Waste Transfer Note if I want one?
- Is taking the old tyres away inside the quoted total, or added later?
- Where does the casing go from here?
None of these questions is rude. A legitimate operation has answered all four hundreds of times and will answer them again cheerfully. Hesitation on any of them tells you what you needed to know, at the cost of thirty seconds on the phone, and the same instinct is worth applying to the wider question of whether mobile tyre fitting is any good.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you charge a fee to take my old tyres away?
No separate fee exists. Taking the old casing away is inside the total quoted on the call, along with fitting, balancing and the valve or TPMS service kit. The figure agreed before the van moves is the figure you pay, with nothing added at the roadside.
Do mobile tyre fitters have to be registered waste carriers?
Yes, anyone carrying waste tyres commercially must be a registered waste carrier. In Scotland the registration is with SEPA and is renewed every three years. You are entitled to ask any fitter about their registration before handing over your casings.
What is a Waste Transfer Note and will I get one?
It is the document recording the waste type, quantity, date and both signatures every time waste changes hands, kept for two years. Household customers rarely need it, but you are entitled to ask for the transfer note, and business customers often do.
Can I take my old tyres to a recycling centre in Glasgow?
Usually, in small numbers. Most local authority recycling centres accept a limited number of car tyres from householders, and the limit varies by site, so check your council’s current rules first. Tyres on rims and trade waste are commonly refused.
Is it illegal to dump old tyres in the UK?
Yes. Illegal dumping under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 carries an unlimited fine and up to 12 months imprisonment on summary conviction, or up to 5 years on indictment. Tyres have been banned from landfill since 2003, so the legal routes are the only routes.
Where do my old tyres go after you take them?
They are handed to a licensed waste carrier and enter the national recovery chain, where casings are re-used, processed into new material, used as fuel or exported. Our guide to what happens to my old tyres follows the whole journey honestly, percentages included.
Book a Fitting in Glasgow With Disposal Already Included
One fitted price covers the lot: the tyre, removal and fitting, wheel balancing on the van’s on-board balancer, a new valve or TPMS service kit, torquing to manufacturer specification, and taking the old casing away into the licensed chain. It works the same way on a planned mobile tyre fitting in Glasgow and on an emergency tyre replacement at two in the morning.
Call or WhatsApp 07955 533000 with a photo of the tyre sidewall and your postcode, and you get one total on the call, agreed before the van leaves Glasgow. Average arrival across Glasgow and the Central Belt is 30 to 45 minutes. We are 24/7 Mobile Tyre Services, family run for over 20 years with fully certified technicians, based at 100 Jessie St, Polmadie, working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in all weather.
