Problem with Discarding Used Tires

http://www.scraptire.sk.ca/ Also, check out the link - "Process & Stakeholders" Hope it helps. Recycling fee is paid upon purchase of new tires.

Mr. Kelly G. Goyer

Waste Prevention Coordinator
University of Saskatchewan
Facilities Mgmt. Div.
110 Maintenance Road
Saskatoon, Sask. CANADA S7N 5C5
Ph. (306) 966 1282
[email protected]

There will be problems convincing city officials to spend good money to buy junk. It would be really useful to gather data on the costs the city is currently incurring in picking up the tire litter. Then you might be able to present the tire buy back program as a cost saving measure. Failing a buy back program what about just suggesting tires could be picked up for free just like other trash? One thing you might have to watch out for is folks from other jurisdictions bringing in used tires to get their $2 bounty. I could see a small garage bringing in 5-10 tires rather than pay to dump them in their town. I also think of deposit cans and bottles. People pick them up on the road side, or from urban trash bins for the deposit money. Perhaps some folks might scrounge littered tires and turn them in for cash. This is not a bad thing if they are cleaning up your town, but if they are hauling in tires from another town, you might not think that is a benefit. (although it may be for the larger county/drainage area whatever) One way to deal with the "outsider problem" if you want to is to limit payment to city residents. One more idea on political support, you may get some support for the idea from people living in areas that are popular dumping grounds. They might exert some political pressure in the interests of a cleaner neighborhood. Finally, can you find a market for the tires the city acquires? I know there are processes to convert used tires into playground paving material, sidewalks, and even a type of mulch. Even if the processor just hauls them away for free, it saves the cost of disposal for the city, and puts the old tires to better use than landfill.

In Nova Scotia one must pay an environmental fee upfront at time of purchase of the tires. Here is a link: http://www.rrfb.com/pages/programs/tireprogram.cfm. Used tires may then be dropped off at any tire retailer in the province for free (maximum of four tires at a time), and the government contractor picks up the used tires at various intervals. However, the province is currently reviewing how to manage waste tires - an advisory committee recently recommended against using tires for fuel (report here: http://www.gov.ns.ca/enla/waste/docs/AdvisoryCommitteeReportOnUsed-TireM anagement.pdf). In the mean time, I believe most of our used tires are shipped to Quebec where they are used as fuel.

Regards,
Nancy Webber

Program Officer
Clean Nova Scotia
902.420.7931
[email protected]
www.clean.ns.ca

Kate,

Will County has never hosted a buy-back program but each year we offer a FREE one-day collection event. We accept tires from our townships and municipalities that get "dumped" along roadsides and we accept tires from our citizens. Often we are successful in receiving grant funds from the State of Illinois which uses "tire tax" funds to keep tires from becoming mosquito breeding grounds or potential fire hazards. In the years that we don't receive such funds, we limit the size of tires that we will accept (nothing larger than the standard pick-up truck) to keep our costs for the collection/recycling as low as possible. There are several tire recycling firms available that might give you discounted pricing to take the tires from such an event.

Marta Keane,

Recycling Program Specialist
Will County Land Use 
Waste Services
58 E. Clinton Street, Suite 500
Joliet, IL 60432
815-774-4343
[email protected]

From a recent Resource Recycling e-mail National tire recycling promotion bill introduced With Americans scrapping an average of approximately 300 million rubber tires each year, members of the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a bill to jumpstart the development of a nationwide recycled rubber industry. The Tire Investment, Recovery and Extension Act of 2008 (TIRE Act of 2008) provides a $3-per-tire tax incentive to companies purchasing large volumes of tires made from recycled rubber. According to legislators, if approved, the proposal would be a critical piece in ensuring the creation of a market that would allow tire manufacturers to develop and promote tires made of recycled rubber. Currently, the tire industry is the largest consumer of rubber in the U.S., using over three billion pounds of rubber annually to produce over 250 million tires.

Marta Keane,

Recycling Program Specialist
Will County Land Use
Waste Services
58 E. Clinton Street, Suite 500
Joliet, IL 60432
815-774-4343
[email protected]

Kate -

Oklahoma has a program and collects a waste tire recycling fee from people who purchase new tires. A brochure about the program states, "Customers who choose to take their waste tires home with them should retain a receipt from the tire dealer that allows them to bring back the waste tire when they are completely worn out." See the brochure at http://www.deq.state.ok.us/pubs/lpd/wastetires.pdf .

Laureen Gibson Gilroy,
CFM Recycling Coordinator
Field Customer Services
City of Tulsa Public Works
470 West 23rd Street
Tulsa, OK 74107
Tel: (918) 596-2859
Fax: (918) 596-1869 

Hi:

The Qubec provincial government introduced a mandatory deposit fee of $5 per tire about 7 years ago. It is included in the purchase price of new tires, and refunded when the used tires are brought to a depot for recycling. Unfortunately, despite searching the net in English and in French, I cannot find details of this programme for you. As I recall, certain garages and other sites are specially designated for collection and the programme has been successful. I'm not able to spend time researching now, but will forward anything that I find when I have a chance.

Cheers.
Maureen Lafrenire
Montreal

Hi Kate,

I think all communities have the same problem, but we find it is often businesses that are creating the largest problems by illegally disposing tires. You know it isn't one vehicle when you come across 100 tires dumped in a secluded area. Businesses charge a disposal fee for proper disposal, but instead of responsibly disposing the tires they are dumping the tires and pocketing the money. Something that was suggested at one of our meetings was to involve the provincial government. If the provincial government withheld the money received from the tires, until a receipt for proper disposal was presented, we believe dumping would decrease. All tires would have to be cross-checked - if you are claiming 100 tires, you must show a receipt for disposing 100 tires - then you will be reimbursed by the government. You may want to see if other cities would also like to join in to petition your state for their involvement.

Best of luck to you.
Janice Dama
www.cleancitywindsor.ca

Kate -

Through the Waste Tire Grant Program at California Integrated Waste Management Board - Cal/EPA (funded by the California Tire Fee) many of our member counties hold either one-day or extended day amnesty collection events. I've found that in small rural counties where the majority of residents self-haul, conducting a month-long amnesty event works best. We advertise in the local papers, distribute flyers to the public a month before the event at the landfill or transfer station, and request public service announcements on the local radio stations. For some counties, we have hired an answering service to take "reservations" and collect basic information on where the tires are coming from and how many they are bringing in. Since grant funds are limited, this allows us to shut down the event when the last trailer is anticipated to be filled. Having used the reservation system (15 minute intervals) for several events now, I would only recommend it if you anticipate the participation rate to be so high that it would impede your landfill/transfer station workers daily work. If, as was the case with many of our counties, up to 15 people are coming in with tires per day then there really isn't a need for the reservations.

Stacey K. Miner,

Program Administrator
Rural Counties' Environmental Services JPA
www.esjpa.org
801 12th Street, 6th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
office: 916.447.4806
fax: 916.447.1667
Regional Council of Rural Counties
www.rcrcnet.org