On the 12th of June 2025 the European Union confirmed that tyre retreading is taxonomy-compliant in a letter to BIPAVER. In the letter, the European Union explained that tyre retreading complied with section 5.4 of the Environmental Delegated Act. The news is part of a sprawling interconnected web of regulations and laws across the European continent that to put it mildly is quite a mess and structurally undermines tyre retreading across 27 EU states. But that story is for another day and one we are continuing to cover in these pages.
However following the publication of the news and a short explainer I posted on LinkedIn a few weeks back, we received a few enquiries from the UK retreading industry asking, “if this benefits the UK retreading industry” and “if it applies to UK retreaders”. In short, the answer is “yes, but it is nuanced and difficult to assess” and does require a little bit of a deep dive and context.
What’s the status of the UK’s Green Taxonomy?
At the time of writing, the United Kingdom does not have a UK Green Taxonomy regulation to assist in giving green, sustainable and circular business practices an impulse and access to green funding. That being said, it must be noted that the UK Government did carry out a consultation for a UK Green Taxonomy from 13th November 2024 to the 6th of February 2025. Further dates for implementation of the UK’s Green Taxonomy regulations have not been announced as of yet, but the Government will be undergoing an assessment of the feedback given during the consultation period before making its initial proposals public.
Now unfortunately this is where I am going to mention the word “Brexit”, which after the last decade will be enough to wake most people up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and screaming giving how much it has dominated UK public discourse. For context though it does play a role when it comes to the UK’s taxonomy regulations.
As part of the withdrawal process from the European Union, the UK on-shored part of the EU Taxonomy regulations, which does create a binding obligation for the UK government to implement its own environmental taxonomy at some point. However, here comes the crux point. The UK did not on-shore the EU Taxonomy Delegated Acts (the Climate and Environmental Delegated acts) as these were published post-Brexit. For the sake of context, the Climate and Environmental Delegated Acts cover the key environmental and ecological objectives that help to establish if an economic activity is sustainable under EU Taxonomy regulations.
From a political standpoint, this does leave the UK in a position we have seen countless times over the past decade: does it double-down on Brexit and create a taxonomy completely divergent from the EU or does it align closely with the EU? That’s not a question for Retreading Business to answer, but it is one that could impact the tyre retreading sector in the UK and its alignment and compliance with a UK Green Taxonomy if the UK decides to diverge and differentiate from EU taxonomy regulations, causing further turbulence and costs for businesses.
EU-Taxonomy Compliance Gives Environmental Stamp of Approval to Retreading Sector
You may be thinking at this point, “Hang on a minute. If there is no UK Green taxonomy and given that it won’t be implemented any time soon, how does the news that tyre retreading is EU taxonomy-compliant benefit UK retreaders?”
The confirmation of retreaded tyres being taxonomy-aligned does give the UK credible third-party validation, and even without UK-specific rules, retreaders can reference the EU standards in marketing, sales and ESG discussions to show environmental value. To add to that, if a UK retreader does plan to sell to EU-based fleets, operators or tenders, this could be a commercial advantage, with retreads becoming more competitive in the market even if the numbers of imported retreaded tyres to the EU market are low. According to the latest figures stated in the ETRMA’s EUDR response in May, “imported retreaded tyres constitute 0.01% of the European passenger car market and 0.7% of the European truck and bus market.”
Moreover, and despite the fact that UK retreaders are operating outside the EU jurisdiction, public and private fleets in the UK do see ESG reporting, emissions and circularity as significant, and referencing the EU ruling can assist in the justification of retreads in internal sustainability plans, especially while the UK government is working on its own taxonomy, which is currently expected to mirror the EU system. Unless we see Nigel Farage heading up a Reform Government in 2029 that is. I’m not a political analyst, but it does feel hard to imagine Farage not only prioritising UK taxonomy regulations given their suspicion and ideological opposition of Net-Zero and pro-green policies, but more significantly, aligning the UK close to the EU, given his political history. That being said, if and when the UK’s taxonomy does arrive, this ruling should assist in arguing for its inclusion in the taxonomy framework.
We reached out to the BTMA (British Tyre Manufacturer’s Association) Chief Executive, Darren Lindsey for his perspective on the news and how it could be of benefit to the UK retreading market. His response certainly mirrored the positive reaction seen from BIPAVER’s official communications.
“The recent EU recognition of retreaded tyres’ compliance with the taxonomy is quite encouraging. Even though the UK is no longer under the EU jurisdiction, and we currently lack our own taxonomy, this development indeed offers a valuable third-party validation of the sustainability benefits of retreading.
For UK retreaders, this recognition can certainly be leveraged in their marketing, sales pitches, and most importantly, in their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) discussions. Given that many fleets in the UK place high importance on ESG reporting and circularity, this news could indeed open new doors and strengthen arguments in favour of retreading.”
As an aside from these benefits, Lindsey did see an opportunity for retreaders in the UK to further highlight and underline the industry’s sustainability and circular economy credentials to not only the transport and logistics sector but wider society.
“Additionally, the BTMA sees this as an opportunity to further promote the environmental benefits of retreading, or, as I would like to call it, the remanufacture of tyres within the UK market. As an industry we need to relaunch the credibility of retreading within the broader context of sustainable practices, which is increasingly lost on businesses and consumers alike, as they are offered cheaper, less sustainable, alternatives from the east.”
Mark Holloway, Head of Sustainability and Compliance Process & Business Excellence Manager for Vaculug also believed that this was progress for the sector. In comments to Retreading Business, he underlined the growing importance of ESG reporting within their customer base.
“I agree that this is a positive step for the sector and provides more evidence to fleet owners and managers that embracing a retread policy makes economic and environmental sense.
We are finding that ESG is becoming ever more important to our customers, with significant interest, not only in the raw materials and CO2 savings they are realising but our activities too.
Surely it can only be a matter of time before adopting a retread policy becomes a requirement, particularly in the public sector.”
However, as you will have seen in our video report on the EU’s regulations, taxonomy doesn’t operate in its own universe. It’s just a small piece of the puzzle that has accumulated and backed the retreading industry into a corner fighting for its existence. This news will come as a positive for the sector, but more regulatory and anti-competitive trade battles lie ahead for both European and UK retreaders.
