When it comes to old tires, people usually think of large piles of tires just sitting around, waiting to be managed. Unfortunately, the situation is just like this. There are a lot of old, end-of-life tires (ELT) sitting unmanaged in large stockpiles. The logical solution? – Recycle car tires.

As the U.S. Department of Transportation states in their website: “Approximately 280 million tires are discarded each year by American motorists, approximately one tire for every person in the United States. Around 30 million of these tires are retreaded or reused, leaving roughly 250 million scrap tires to be managed annually. About 85 percent of these scrap tires are automobile tires, the remainder being truck tires. Besides the need to manage these scrap tires, it has been estimated that there may be as many as 2 to 3 billion tires that have accumulated over the years and are contained in numerous stockpiles.” (Source: www.fhwa.dot.gov).

The statistic is grave.

And we are talking ONLY about the Unated States.

Problems For the Environment.

The ecological problem with ELT is that they don’t decompose naturally and can cause global pollution when they are disposed in the nature.

Another problem is their flammability. In an event of fire, it can smolder for very long periods depending on the size and quantity of the tires.

For large stockpiles of used tires, the smolder can be active for months and some times even years. This causes air pollution and diseases. Extinguishing the fire is difficult due to the high amount of hydrocarbons that fuel the fire.

We shouldn’t forget that stockpiled tires also collect rainwater which makes them the perfect environment and breeding ground for mosquitoes and other pests. In either ways, not managing the waste right can and will lead to disasters.

Regenerating the Tires. Why Not?

One of the main methods of recycling the tires is their regeneration by reusing the carcass. The carcass’ structure is made in a manner that can be used more than once even after the upper part of the tire – the protector, is worn out.

The process consists of placing a new protector on the carcass and vulcanizing the tire by gluing a new protector to the carcass using high temperature and pressure.

In that manner, old tires can be reused, thus protecting the environment and removing the expense of buying new ones.

The quality of the regenerated tire is close to the quality of the new tire which makes this method very effective. This method is mostly used for truck tires.

Recycling in Fabrics.

Raw Material For Pyrolysis Machines.

One method used to recycle car tires is cutting them into small pieces, which pieces are then used as a raw material for pyrolysis machines, converting them to fuel. But as its hard to find an application for carbon and pyrolysis fuel, countries find it hard to solve their problems with the end-of-life tires using this method.

Fuel For Cement Plants.

Another solution with old tires is using them as a fuel by burning in cement plants.

The tires are not actually recycled for future reuse, but this gives a great solution with the large quantity of old tires worldwide. The burning is carried out in cement kilnts equipped with high-tech filters in order to preserve the environment.

Producing Rubber Crumb.

Producing rubber crumb is another way of recycling tires. Thus, the produced crumb can be used as a material in the making of numerous rubber products such as floor slabs for children’s playgrounds, road speed reducers, athletic tracks, artificial turf, construction materials and more.

The tires pass trough several cutting machines / shredders equipped with sieves of different hole sizes. Then the metal and textile is separated from the rubber trough metal and textile separators. The resulting product is called rubber crumb.

A New Life For the Tire.

In my opinion, the best way one can help reduce tire waste is to give a new life to their old tires.

There are a lot of creative ways to repurpose old tires which don’t require a degree in rocket science. And what is the best part? Everyone can do it at home. You can even involve your family in the activity, giving you a lot of fun together. It’s a win-win situation. That’s why I consider repurposing old tires is the better option.

Below we will give you a few ideas. The rest is off to your imagination.

1. Make a swing. It will give your children a lot of play time.

2. Make a bed for your dog. Your dog is going to love it.

3. Use the tire as a plant holder. They look great when you decorate them.

4. Find its use in the garden. Believe me, you can use them for a lot of things.

5. Make a sandbox. It works better with larger tires.

6. Use tires for exercise. An excellent way to make a home gym.

The ideas are unlimited. The only limit is your brain. If you have some old tires, you can create masterpieces out of them. Just go wild.

The Importance of Recycling.

As said above, tires cannot decompose naturally which makes them a huge problem when the waste is not managed right.

Throwing them out in the nature or in the water causes serious damage to the environment. Stockpiling them on the other side gives a risk of fire which once ignited, is very hard to extinguish as the high amount of hydrocarbons fuel the fire. Stockpiling them also makes them the ideal habitat for mosquitoes and pests.

By recycling them, millions of tires can be reused in the industries in a lot of different ways, making them useful as fuels, building and raw materials. Also, they can be used at home in a lot of creative ways.

I encourage you to always recycle your old tires or at least give them to somebody that can find them useful. Don’t ignore this.

Like always, feel free to drop your comment below! Always happy to help.