Used tyres make up a significant proportion of the waste produced from old vehicles and are scrapped once no longer safe to use on vehicles. Tyre recycling is therefore very important and is covered by legislation to ensure correct disposal. Tyre recycling actually covers a number of possibilities and there are also ways in which we can all try to reduce the amount of waste tyres.
In terms of tyre usage, driving smoothly and ensuring correct tyre pressure will reduce wear and therefore increase the length of time tyres can be safely used. Thereafter there are a number of ways that tyre recycling can be carried out. Many tyres can be reused if only part worn or can be retread. This can only be carried out once on car tyres but up to three times on HGV tyres. Buying retread tyres will often be cheaper than new and means that they have not had to be disposed of by other means.
Tyre recycling can often mean their use in landfill engineering for drainage purposes. One of the reasons that tyre recycling is so important, however, is the need to ensure that as few as possible end up as waste in landfill sites. Old tyres can be ground or fragmented and used for products such as carpet underlay, shoe soles of sports and playground surfaces. They can also be burnt to produce energy, thus emitting less greenhouse gas than fossil fuels. Tyres can also be recycled in their existing state as boat fenders, crash barriers and in children’s play areas.
If you need to dispose of any tyres, contact a registered scrap yard or your local council. You can also visit the Tyre Recovery Association for more information.
For further information on Recycling click on the links below
