Old, unsightly tires are everywhere: on the side of the highway, in your backyard, or in your neighbor’s backyard, collecting ants, wasps, and rats carrying severe diseases. Rarely does anyone know how these eyesores get into a yard or left in a parking lot or on the side of the road.
What is important is these old tires must be dealt with and thoroughly recycled.
How to Get Rid of Used Tires
Tires sitting in the sun in landfills or junkyards release methane gas into the atmosphere, increasing the carbon footprint and contributing to severe climate change.
Rotten old tires often catch on fire, sending dense black, choking smoke into the air. These clouds are toxic and carry with them the hazardous chemicals added to the tires during the manufacturing process. Burning tires cannot be extinguished with water. The best means to extinguish this type of fire is to smother it with dirt or sand.
Where Can I Get Rid of Old Tires
Tire disposal in landfills and junkyards has become an immense problem across the United States. Thirty-eight states have passed laws that forbid the use of landfills for tire disposal, and stiff fines are imposed on those who dump old tires in landfills.
Landfills are breeding grounds for mosquitos, insects, and rats and are the perfect environment for vector-borne ailments such as the West Nile virus. Junkyards and landfills, until recently, were nothing more than a nurturing ground for any number of deadly viruses and diseases. Unsuspecting landowners never considered their local landfill as one of the most dangerous places for you and your family to be around.
When buying a new set of tires for a vehicle, expect to pay an additional state tire fee and tire disposal fee. These fees cover the cost of disposing of and recycling old tires.
Technology has developed several new methods of disposing of old tires without damaging the environment, such as tire pyrolysis, cryogenic recycling, and tire and rubber repurposing.
- Tire pyrolysis is a method that takes whole tires or shredded rubber and heats it in a reactor vessel in an oxygen-free environment. The rubber is softened and broken down into small-molecule polymers. The smaller molecules vaporize while exiting the reactor. The vapors are burned directly to produce energy.
- Cryogenic recycling exposes old tires to super cold fluids reaching 80 degrees centigrade. The resultant material is called crumb, which is repurposed in asphalt roadbeds, hoses, and truck bed liners.
It is vital to future society that we choose the best methods to recycle and repurpose now. If we do nothing, our children will be left with nothing but a toxic waste dump.
Who Takes Old Tires
With the rapid increase in car and truck sales around the world, there has been a dramatic increase in the disposal and repurposing of old tires. Where can you go to get rid of old tires?
- In most cases, the retailer who installed the new set of tires takes responsibility for disposing of the old. Mechanics are always in need of good old tires.
- Each county in every state offers several recycling centers designed to recycle old tires. It is a good idea to check with the county authorities about where to take old rotten tires. Each state offers websites and information portals where recyclable old tires can be taken.
Things To Do With Old Tires
One of the great aspects of old tires is they have endless uses after their shelf life has expired.
- Use as a plant holder. Clean out the tire and paint if you want a new aesthetic to match your garden.
- Tire Swings are as old as time and a great way to repurpose an old tire. Find a sturdy tree with big branches and attach a large rope. Securely tie the old tire, making sure it can swing freely.
- Tire flips are an inventive way to exercise if you have the correct size tire. Large tractor tires work best for this exercise.
Selling or Donating Old Tires
Times have changed, and technology has made it possible to make money selling old tires in good condition. Plenty of recycling centers now offer payment for old tires in any condition. Tire retreading is another way to make money from old but usable tires. Retreading is the process of replacing old, worn-out treads with newer, more usable treads.
Environmental Hazards of Old Tires and Safe Recycling Options
Old, rotten tires are an environmental hazard and an immense problem for local, state, and federal governments. No matter where rotten tires are located, they never decompose; instead, they slowly release chemicals into the air, ground, and water, contaminating the ecosystem.
The best way to get rid of old tires is to recycle. To find out more, use EARTH911 to find a local tire recycling center near you. Or dial 1-800-CLEANUP and search for the material you wish to recycle.
