No matter how carefully you drive or how much use you get out of your tires, eventually you'll have to replace them. Then you have to decide what to do with your old tires. Multiply your problem by the number of people who replace their tires each year, and you see the daunting task facing tire recyclers.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States generates nearly 300 million used tires each year. Burning tires creates dangerous pollution, and tires don't break down in landfills. As of 2005, the EPA estimated there were 188 million tires sitting in scrap piles, where they create health hazards. It's vital that states and individuals recycle used tires.
If you have a few old tires, you have several options for handling them. Many tire dealerships or recycling centers accept used tires for a fee, generally $2 or less per tire. Many communities have a tire amnesty day, when you can drop off used tires without paying a fee. You may find you can use your old tires yourself.
The standby use for old tires is a tire swing. You can do this the old fashioned way, with rope around the tire to hang from a tree, or you can find patterns for making a fancier swing, such as a popular one shaped like a horse. If you have a large tire, such as a tractor tire, you can fill it with sand and use it as a sandbox.
Old tires make unique planters. Just set them on the ground and fill them with soil. Or you can cut out the side walls and turn the tire inside out for a planter. If you have enough tires, you can stack them pyramid style to build a retaining wall. Old tires can also be mounted on garage walls or boat docks as bumpers.
Many states have implemented programs to recycle scrap tires in unique ways. One use is in creating rubberized asphalt for highways. According to the EPA, 7.4 million tires were ground and used as a component in new highways in 2005. This not only recycles scrap tires but also lowers the cost of highway construction.
Other tire-recycling programs turn tires into ground rubber or rubber shreds for many purposes. They create ground cover for playgrounds, backfill for civil engineering programs, garden mulch, erosion control barriers or drainage foundations around buildings.
By EPA records, about 155 million scrap tires were used for tire-derived fuel in 2005. The tires are incinerated under carefully controlled conditions and used to supplement traditional fuels. Fuel from tires creates about the same amount of energy as oil and 25 percent more energy than coal. This has the dual benefit of reducing dependence on fossil fuels and keeping scrap tires out of landfills.
Don't stockpile old tires. If you don't have a use for your scrap tires, take them somewhere that accepts tires for recycling rather than hanging on to them for eventual use. Stockpiled tires collect rainwater, which draws mosquitoes. They may harbor rodents. Mosquitoes and rodents can carry diseases. If a tire pile catches fire, it releases air, water and ground pollutants.
