Did you know that the United States generated 304 million scrap tires in 2019 alone? However, managed tires only accounted for 90.8%, meaning many still ended up in landfills.
Unfortunately, tires in landfills provide disease-causing pests, like rodents, with ideal habitats. They also pose fire hazards that pollute the air, soil, and water and cost millions to extinguish.
That’s enough reason to consider recycling car tires instead of throwing them away.
We’ll teach you how to recycle car tires in this guide, so be sure to read on.
Retread Your Tires First
Before taking old tires to a recycling facility, ask local auto shops near you if they retread tires.
Retreading involves the replacement of old tread with new tread. The process only takes about a fifth of the energy used to make new tires, resulting in a lower carbon footprint. Plus, retread tires use fewer new materials, making them cheaper than new rubber.
Check Your State’s Tire Recycling Programs
Tire recycling programs facilitate the storage, collection, processing, and disposal of old tires. They exist to help cut down automotive rubber that ends in landfills.
Forty-eight states have laws addressing scrap tire management. Some take the form of tire recycling programs. The regulations vary from state to state, but most impose mandatory fees on new tire sales.
If you live in Rhode Island, though, you can get a refund of $5 per tire you buy. You must bring a replacement waste tire to the retailer within 14 days to get the refund, though.
In other states, the tire fee imposed on new tire sales serves as the fund to dispose of the old tires. So if you live in one of these states, the retailer can recycle the tires for you.
Consider Recycling Car Tires for Cash
Some recycling facilities work with retreading companies that buy old tires. Recyclers get paid an amount based on each tire’s condition. However, they often have to sell the tires in bulk; for example, they may have to meet a minimum quantity of 100 units.
So if you want to buy new tires, but your old ones are still a good candidate for retreading, bring them to a recycler. The facility is likely to buy them from you, especially if they do business with a retreading company.
When you take your tires to a recycler, you might want to bring other recyclable auto parts with you. Check out these tips for more details on what car parts you can recycle aside from tires.
Repurpose Your Old Tires
If you’re wondering what to do with old car tires aside from recycling them, the answer is to repurpose them. For instance, you can make planters, furniture, doormats, and even walls out of them. Another brilliant idea is to turn them into flip-flops, as folks in East Africa do.
You can do loads of other things with old tires, but you can always go for the classic tire swing if all else fails.
Start Your Tire Recycling Project Today
Always remember that recycling car tires may be more than just a legal obligation in your state. It’s more about ensuring that fewer of these rubber scraps end up in landfills as toxicants.
So, talk to your local auto shop or recycling facility as early as today. The sooner you do, the sooner they can help you dispose of your old tires the proper and safe way.
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