What is TRACS and why has it been it been established?

TRACS, the Tyre Recovery Activity Compliance Scheme, is a voluntary compliance scheme for tyre industry operators. It was introduced following the new Waste Management Regulations in January 2008 to monitor the movement of tyres and waste tyres within the industry and therefore stop uncontrolled movement of waste tyres. There are over 35,000 tonnes of waste tyres produced in Ireland each year. This was not being monitored and it was not known where significant numbers of waste tyres were ending up. The tyre industry was being incorrectly blamed for the dumping of waste tyres so they approached the Government and proposed a voluntary industry initiative to track all tyres on the market.