As the Merityre fitter rolls away your old tyre and replaces it with a gleaming new one, do you ever wonder how Merityre disposes of your old tyre? Landfill? No that would be illegal! The European 2006 Landfill Directive prohibits the disposal of whole and shredded tyres in landfill sites. Tyre retailers, garages and vehicle dismantlers amass an estimated waste of 40 million tyres year. An impressive number! You will be intrigued to know the where they all go!
Re-use, the most straightforward option, is the retread market that accounts for about 12% or 5 million tyres a year. There are limitations however, as a tyre can only have a retread once in its life. With cheap tyre imports, this sector is in a declining market. Tyres are also re-cycled in a variety of other ways from stationery to flood defences. How many ‘I used to be a Car Tyre’ notebooks did Santa deliver last Christmas? One of the most innovative uses of car tyres is the flood defence embankment on the river Witham in Lincolnshire. If this project proves to be successful we could see similar flood defences throughout the country to help alleviate our rising flood problems.
After re-use, the reprocessing of tyres accounts for about 120 million tyre units a year. This sector can be broadly split into materials recovery, (such as crumb tyres in carpet underlay or road surfaces), energy recovery and landfill engineering. The technology behind energy recovery is an emerging market, as tyres could replace up to 25% of coal in the cement kiln industry.
With so many options why are tyres subject to fly-tipping?
Responsibility for tackling this problem rests not only on the tyre industry but also on the individual.
The next time you need a tyre be sure to visit Merityre, an environmentally responsible company proud to support the 'Responsible Recycler' logo.
http://www.merityre.co.uk
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