India has witnessed a fivefold surge in waste tyre imports from developed countries over the past few years. Despite strict regulations for controlled imports and scientific disposal, enforcement gaps remain stark. Large quantities of imported tyres are processed in plants with inadequate safeguards resulting in adverse impact on the environment and communities.

On paper, India banned the import of scrap tyres for extracting the pyrolysis oil in 2022. But it did not put a mechanism in place to monitor the ban. In fact, the import of waste tyres has consistently increased over the years, and pyrolysis plants in cities like Morena work overtime, burning imported waste tyres.

“The residents have been breathing cancer for the last decade,” says Yogendra Mawai, a professor of Pharmacy at Shri Ram College of Pharmacy, Morena, who has been researching the health impacts of the emissions on the environment and people for years. “These factories cook domestic and imported tyres many times higher than their permissible limits.”