Can I Take Tyres to the Tip in Leeds?
Yes, four at a time. Leeds takes four car tyres and four motorcycle tyres at its household waste recycling centres, and refuses forklift tyres, caterpillar tracks, earth moving tyres and any industrial tyre outright, at every site. Tyres cannot go in any bin. Kruze collects them across Leeds and West Yorkshire from £24.99, with no cap, under Waste Carrier Licence CBDU597687. Call or WhatsApp 07436 120271.
The short version across all seven councils
Tyres are the one item where the seven councils we cover give seven genuinely different answers, and one of them is simply no. Two cap you at four. One caps you at four and restricts it to two sites. Two publish no limit at all. One charges per tyre and takes commercial tyres too. Barnsley refuses them outright.
Why tyres are treated differently from everything else
North Yorkshire explains the whole topic in one sentence on its own charges page: “We charge for the disposal of tyres as they are not classed as household waste.”
That is the reason every council treats tyres separately. They are not rubbish in the ordinary sense, they are a controlled material with a dedicated recycling route, and somebody has to pay for that route.
Calderdale adds the second half: “Tyres should be returned to the garage where they were fitted. They are responsible for the safe disposal of the tyres.” In the normal course of events the disposal is handled and paid for at the point the new tyres go on. The tip is the fallback for the tyres nobody fitted for you.
What Leeds City Council allows
Leeds accepts car tyres to a maximum of four and motorcycle tyres to a maximum of four at its household waste recycling centres, and lists them under DIY waste rather than as an ordinary household item.
What it refuses is unusually specific. Forklift tyres, caterpillar tracks, earth moving tyres, or any form of industrial tyre are not accepted at all, at any site, in any quantity. That is a written refusal rather than a quantity cap, and it is the only list of its kind among the seven councils we cover.
| Car tyres | Maximum 4 |
| Motorcycle tyres | Maximum 4 |
| Forklift, caterpillar tracks, earth moving, industrial | Not accepted at any site |
| Charge | None within the allowance |
| Sites | All eight, subject to the usual permit rules |
Source: Leeds City Council.
The refusal list is aimed at a specific customer
Read that refusal list again and think about who owns a forklift tyre or a caterpillar track. Nobody is bringing one from a semi in Roundhay.
It is a trade waste rule written as an item list. Leeds is separately explicit that household waste recycling centres cannot be used for trade or business waste, and names builders, plasterers, landscapers, plumbers, joiners, glaziers, electricians and decorators. The tyre list closes the same door from the other side, by naming the objects rather than the trades.
If you run a yard, a farm, a plant hire operation or a garage, the household route is not open to you and the item list says so before anyone has to have the conversation at the gate.
The duty of care point, which matters more on tyres than on anything else
Tyres are the most fly-tipped bulky item in the country, and the reason is visible in the rules above: several councils cap them at four, one refuses them completely, and the legal disposal route always costs somebody something.
What people forget is that the liability follows the waste back to you. Under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 you have a duty of care to check that whoever takes your waste is authorised to do so. If you hand tyres to an unlicensed man with a van and they turn up in a lane, the council can trace them to you and you can be fined or prosecuted, even though somebody else did the dumping.
Two checks, both quick. Ask for the waste carrier licence number and look it up on the Environment Agency public register. Ours is CBDU597687. Then get a waste transfer note. If a collector cannot give you both, that is your answer.
The worked comparison
A set of four off a car, plus the spare, in Leeds.
| Route | What happens |
|---|---|
| The garage that fitted them | Should have taken them, and usually already charged you for it. Always ask first |
| Leeds City Council tip | Four go free. The fifth does not. Come back another day or find another route |
| Kruze | One collection, from wherever they are stacked, no cap and no trip |
What it costs with Kruze
Tyre collection starts at £24.99, which covers a small number on a minimum load. Larger quantities are priced by the volume they fill, so tell us how many and what type when you ask.
We collect car, van and 4×4 tyres from households and from garages across West Yorkshire, and we recycle them compliantly. We are a licensed waste carrier, registration CBDU597687, and every job produces a waste transfer note, which is what covers your duty of care.
What we do that the council route does not: no cap, no site restriction, no counting to four, and no second Saturday. If you have a stack of eleven behind the garage, that is one collection rather than three trips across two councils.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Leeds name forklift and caterpillar tyres specifically?
Because it is a trade waste rule written as an item list. Household waste recycling centres are for household waste, and naming the objects closes the door before anyone has to argue about the trade at the gate.
Do the four car tyres and four motorcycle tyres add up to eight?
Leeds lists them as two separate maximums. If you are near the line on both, ring the site before you load, because it is applied by staff on the day.
Can I put a tyre in my black bin?
No. Tyres are not accepted in any Leeds household bin, and they are handled as a separate stream at the recycling centres.
Do I need a permit?
Depending on the vehicle, yes. Leeds runs a waste permit scheme and several vehicle types are refused regardless of permit. A car boot needs nothing.
Book a tyre collection in Leeds
Send a photo on WhatsApp with the stack in shot and tell us roughly how many. You get a fixed price back, usually within minutes.
Call or WhatsApp 07436 120271.
Written by Sandeep KV, Founder of Kruze. Kruze is a licensed waste carrier based in Leeds, Waste Carrier Licence CBDU597687, serving Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Harrogate and Barnsley. Call or WhatsApp 07436 120271.
Tyre rules in the other areas we cover
This is the topic with the widest spread of any we have written up. Two councils cap you at four, one caps you at four and restricts it to two sites, two publish no limit at all, one charges per tyre and takes commercial tyres, and one refuses them outright.
More on tipping in Leeds
- Soil and rubble at the Leeds tip
- Plasterboard at the Leeds tip
- Mattresses at the Leeds tip
- Van and trailer permits for the Leeds tip
- Asbestos at the Leeds tip
- Fridges and freezers at the Leeds tip
- Bulky waste collection in Leeds
Tyres are only one of the things Leeds turns away. Tarmac, asphalt and industrial tyres are refused outright, and DIY waste is capped at two 50 litre bags a visit. See the full list of what the Leeds tip will not take.
If the council route does not fit your timing, we run same day rubbish collection across Leeds seven days a week.