Over 54,000 tires recycled by Fayette SWCD

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Fayette Soil & Water Conservation District (Fayette SWCD) held a Scrap Tire Amnesty Collection on Saturday, April 22.

“We collected 5,738 passenger tire equivalents,” said Fayette SWCD Director Chet Murphy. All tires were counted as their equivalent in passenger car tires. A semi-truck tire is equal to five passenger car tires and a tractor tire may be as much as 15 or more.

Most tires were accepted free of charge. There was a $5 fee per tire for large agricultural tires.

Fayette SWCD received a grant of $35,000 from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) to fund the Scrap Tire Amnesty Program. The district contributed a 10 percent cash match on top of these grant funds.

“Thanks also go to the Fayette County Agricultural Society for allowing us the use of the fairgrounds parking area for these collection events,” said Murphy. “Together with events in August and October of last year, we have collected and recycled 19,107 tires this grant cycle.”

The tires were subsequently hauled and recycled by Sun Down Tires Recycling of Piketon, Ohio, an OEPA-certified transporter and permitted recycler. The rubber in the tires is converted into various products, such as tire-derived fuel or playground mulch. The steel cords are also removed for recycling. Some tire treads are sent to another company where they are joined together to make blasting mats. These mats are used by the military and private contractors to limit the amount of material being thrown through the air from various demolition explosions.

This scrap tire amnesty and similar Fayette SWCD programs held in 2010, 2013 and 2014 have removed the equivalent of 54,862 passenger car tires from the streams, fields, forests, roadways and residences of Fayette County. The direct cost of these programs to date is $85,156.

“Unfortunately, we obligated all of the money available before we ran out of tires needing to be recycled and had to close registration. The district will make a decision on future grant applications at a later date.” said Murphy. “To the credit of the citizens of Fayette County, they continue to take advantage of this program to improve the natural environment of our county.”

Funding for this program is provided by the Ohio EPA and Fayette SWCD.

Workers from Sun Down Tires Recycling and Fayette SWCD unload some of the 5,738 tires collected during the Scrap Tire Amnesty.
http://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2017/05/web1_image001.jpgWorkers from Sun Down Tires Recycling and Fayette SWCD unload some of the 5,738 tires collected during the Scrap Tire Amnesty.

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