Georgia Elliott-Smith, CEO of Fighting Dirty, questions gap between those talking about a Circular Economy and current regulations
Georgia Elliott-Smith, CEO of the environmental campaign group Fighting Dirty, is urging the government to work with the Tyre Recovery Association (TRA), to effect a circular economy and address the climate change crisis. She encouraged the government to prioritise the regulatory reforms the TRA is calling for, welcoming the practical approach of the five-step Road to Reform, published this summer. Elliott-Smith was speaking at the TRA Briefing Day 2025 on Tuesday 16 September, where she gave the keynote address.
“There are real opportunities for UK tyres waste but how can the industry progress?” asked Elliott-Smith, a Chartered Engineer, environment consultant and sustainability manager who became a full-time environmental campaigner. “It is an unexpected but welcome marriage between the TRA and Fighting Dirty, but we are united in seeking a change to the rules currently in pace around the British end-of-life waste tyres (ELTs). We are partners when you agree that the climate crisis is real and we only have a limited time to reverse it. We can partner with the TRA because we both agree that we have to see a stop to the talking and a start pulling the lever for change. Regulation, and its enforcement, are key to that.
“Fighting Dirty will continue to initiate legal challenges when we see inaction by regulators, that’s why we initiated court proceedings against the Environment Agency in February, proceedings that led to the EA admitting that there was a failure to understand their responsibilities and regulate. Enhanced verification procedures are a positive step in the right direction, but we wait to see that they deliver the promised change – our legal action is only paused.”
“We all have to be troublemakers, to be a nuisance for a cause.” – Georgia Elliott-Smith, CEO of Fighting Dirty
Elliott-Smith set out a vision for regulation, environmental campaigns and the tyre waste industry: “As an environmental campaign group, we have real concerns about false solutions. What does the Government actually mean by a Circular Economy, it must not lead to false solutions. Regulatorily reform needs to create new big industries that stop being transition solutions but create the ends in themselves. Climate change is created by CO2, we don’t want new industries that are still able to produce yet more pollution. If we do that, we can see Green Industry and Circularity truly be the future of UK industry.
“Policy leadership can create the industry design solution of the future – what is possible in the tyre industry to move it to that new vision, that moves through transitory solutions to genuine solutions for the industry of the future.
“We all have to be troublemakers, to be a nuisance for a cause.”
Peter Taylor OBE, secretary general of the TRA, said: “Today saw the largest gathering of TRA members and industry players in a year. There is a sense of possibility and optimism with a refocus on reform following the Waste Minister’s comments in Spring, but we still wait for that rhetoric to become a reality.
“Operational clarity for our members will come from the right decisions on regulatory reform being implemented. This must happen if we are to secure domestic capability and the long-term success of British used tyre processors. We all want to see reforms that stop malpractice and corner cutting which does so much damage to the environment and undermines legitimate operators.
“As Georgia set out today, there is currently a big gap between the stated objective of Britain having a circular economy and what is happening in practice. We welcome the Environment Agency’s contributions to discussions today – we again encourage them (and DEFRA) to invite industry through their door so we can speak to them and help bring meaningful reform about. Partnership and cooperation, is the quickest and most effective route down the road to reform that the Minister initiated nearly six months ago.”
