Kwik-Fit Fleet’s new £10 million national distribution centre has had a specially installed machine to shred the six million tyres removed from company and privately-owned cars and vans.

The recently opened 245,000 square feet Northamptonshire complex is the hub of a major operation.

A 69-strong fleet of trucks deliver tyres to centres daily, and in a process known as ‘reverse logistics’ return to the national distribution ventre reloaded with worn out tyres, removed tyre casings and scrap catalytic converters. Tyres that are shredded at the new site are then used for use in artificial sports and equestrian surfaces and children’s playground surfaces.

Kwik-Fit said the trucks always travel fully loaded, which it says saves up to three million miles a year and an estimated 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Specialist tyre waste collectors now collect from the national distribution centre instead of calling to individual Kwik-Fit centres.