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 which are recycled to make retreads for large trucks. With the sheer volume, tire recycling becomes a very important environmental issue in the U.S.
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 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. If placed in your local landfill, this tire scrap 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 illegally if recycling facilities are not available to them. The illegally dumping become an eyesore and can drag down surrounding property values.
Tire Scrap can also provide serious health threats to both people and the environment. Because of their unusual shape, they will hold water in them from the rain.
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 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 them as well. This oily runoff is also toxic to the environment and people as well.
Due to the harmful effects of a tire fire, 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 ones. The next step in the recycling process is retreading. Once a tire can no longer be used they are recycled.
It is interesting to note that very little rubber from a used tire 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.
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