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The Scrap Tire Crisis
5/30/2006 9:48:32 AM
With the increasing number of motor vehicles in the world, there is a rapid increase in the amount of scrap tires. Large quantities of scrap tires are causing serious environmental issues regarding their disposal.
The main reason for this problem is that waste tires are not bio-degradable and can last 100 years or more if proper handling is not carried out.
Statistics shown that in 1996, 80 million tons of scrap tires are disposed off worldwide and this number is increasing, yearly. At the present time, there is no perfect approach to recycle scrap tires. As a result, illegal dumping or open burning can be seen everywhere. Incorrect methods of disposal of scrap tires can cause hazards to our environment as the numbers continuously increase without any action taken.
Automotive tires are made from synthetic rubber derived from petroleum. Seventy-five percent of a modem car is composed of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, which are readily recycled back into the metals industries. However, the remaining 25% is composed of plastics, rubber and other components, which are currently disposed of in landfills.
Every day, worldwide, approximately 2 million passenger vehicle and truck tires are manufactured. Scrap tires are gathered from a number of sources, including scrap yards, garages and used tire retailers.
The unique properties of waste tires have made for their disposal more difficult. Several of these problems are associated with their toughness (difficult to break down and decompose, un-biodegradable), durability, shape (large void space, poor space efficiency for storage and transportation) and volume (occupies a large volume).
Scrap tires illegally dumped in abandoned buildings and on the landscape present even greater public and environmental health risks. Old tires are a huge problem -they're dumped, they're buried, they're piled into mile-high mountains. Tire dumps provide excellent breeding grounds for mosquitoes and elevated incidents of mosquito-borne diseases have been noted near large tire piles. Mosquitoes lay eggs in standing water, such as can accumulate inside a discarded tire. A single tire can be the source of thousands of mosquitoes
Another hazard associated with the uncontrolled disposal and accumulation of large amounts of tires is the potential for large fires. Tire pile fires have been an even greater environmental problem. Tire pile fires can bum for months, sending up an acrid black plume that can be seen miles away. The plume contains toxic chemicals and air pollutants, just as toxic chemicals are released into surrounding water supplies by oily runoff from tire fues. Fighting a tire pile fue is not only futile in some cases, it can actually make the pollution problem worse.
Fires in large tire pile are difficult, if not impossible, to extinguish. Some have taken months to burn out, producing heavy smoke and toxic liquid run-off that can foul local groundwater and surface water. Air, water and soil pollution can actually be made worse if water or foam is used to put out the rue, so some have been consciously left to bum out. Contact us for the solution!
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