PRESS RELEASE

Brussels, 13^thJune 2008

2008World Recycling Convention &

BIR’s60^thAnniversary Celebration

MonteCarlo, 2-4 June 2008

TyresCommittee:

Steadyincrease in EU tyre recovery rate

Latest statistics indicatea steadyincrease in European tyre recovery rates but historic stockpiles ofused tyres remain a considerable issue, the BIR Tyres Committeemeeting in Monte-Carlo was informed by its Chairman, Barend TenBruggencate from the Netherlands.

According to figures fromthe EuropeanTyre & Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA), some 89% ofthe2.789 million tonnes of used tyres arising in the EU-15 during 2006were subjected to reuse (4%), export (6%), retreading (12%), materialrecovery (37%) or energy recovery (30%) at a total management cost ofEuro 600 million.

For the EU as a whole,arisings in thesame year totalled 3.238 million tonnes, of which 87% were subjectedto one of the above-mentioned “treatment” options, including34.1% material recovery and 31.6% energy recovery. However, historicstockpiles in the EU’s 27 member states amounted to 5.5 milliontonnes - equivalent to 1.73 times total arisings in 2004, Mr TenBruggencate pointed out. A large proportion of this total was theresult of “illegal dumping”, he added.

The Committee’s Chairmanwent on towelcome the fact that scrap tyres would be among a number ofrecyclables scheduled to be considered at EU level as part of areview of end-of-waste criteria. He also applauded research which hadruled out health and environmental risks associated with the use ofrubber granulate in artificial turf.

The guest speaker at theBIR TyresCommittee meeting in Monte-Carlo outlined the progress of Aliapur inhelping tyre companies in France to meet their legal producerresponsibility obligations. Pierre Henry Remy is responsible forlogistics within the organisation, which currently commands an 82%share of the market and handled some 284,000 tonnes of used tyres in2007. Around 122,000 tonnes went for material recovery while energyrecovery, reutilisation and public works applications accounted for,respectively, 29.4%, 15.9% and 13% of the total, he explained.

In addition to preparingthe tyres forfamiliar applications such as artificial sports pitches or as anenergy source for cement kilns, Aliapur has also conducted researchinto new applications, including a new equestrian surface. Thecompany has also set itself the objective for 2008 of establishing “atrue solution for the recovery of the metal wire” from used tyres,said Mr Remy.

Companies responsible forputting newtyres on the French market pay towards financing the system, whichcovers collection, transport, traceability and research/development.Noting that costs had fallen over the course of the five years sinceAliapur’s inception, Mr Remy also pointed out that “valorisation”processes accounted for only 11% of the overhead while more than 50%of the organisation’s costs related to collection andtransportation.