Tire Recycling is Vital to Protecting the
Environment from Toxic Pollution
Would you be surprised to know that in
United States approximately one tire per person is discarded each
year? That amounts to approximately 250 million scrap tires which
need to be dealt with each and every year. In addition there are
another 45 million tires which are recycled to make retread tires
for large trucks. With the sheer volume of scrap ties, tire
recycling becomes a very important environmental issue in the U.S.
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In the old days, before the 1960s, rubber from
scrap tires was usually recycled. However, with the influx of cheap
oil imports, which are the raw material behind synthetic rubber,
tire recycling became less attractive as an option. At this time
reclaimed rubber became less valuable and the steel belts in tires
made tire recycling more expensive, difficult, and time-consuming.
Scrap tires can become a serious environmental
problem and tire recycling takes a large part in helping to relieve
the environmental damage possible from scrap tires. If placed in
your local landfill, scrap tires can damage the linings which are in
the landfill to prevent ground and surface water from mixing with
the contaminated substances in the landfill. Because of this, many
people choose to dump their tires illegally if tire recycling
facilities are not available to them. The illegally dumped tires
become an eyesore and can drag down surrounding property values.
Scrap tires can also provide serious health
threats to both people and the environment. Because of their
unusual shape, tires will hold water in them from the rain.
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This
rain water provides a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes. There
are many mosquito-borne diseases which can be harmful to people and
livestock. For this reason alone tire recycling is a much better
option than tire piles and dumps.
One of the most tragic environmental disasters
can happen when tire piles catch on fire. Tire pile fires can burn
for months on end, and emit huge black acrid plumes of smoke. The
smoke can cover miles and contains many toxic chemicals and air
pollutants. At the same time the horrible toxic smoke is filling
the air, there is an oily runoff from the tires. This oily runoff
is also toxic to the environment and people as well.
Due to the harmful effects of a tire fire, tire
recycling is now common in the U.S. The first line of recycling is
using all tires until they are no longer usable. Many tire
businesses sell partially used tires for less cost than new tires.
The next step in the recycling process is to retread tires. Once a
tire can no longer be used they are recycled.
It is interesting to note that very little
rubber from used tires actually goes into the production of new
tires! Generally the rubber is chipped and shredded. These chips
and shreds are used in asphalt and rubber athletic surfaces.
Today
there are many uses for chipped and shredded rubber. This makes a
large market for tire recyclers for their products. By reducing the
use of virgin rubber, and recycling when possible, it saves both the
environment as well as manufacturing costs.
