- On October 7th and 21st, Kern County Public works will hold Free Tire Drop off days. On the 7th, county residents can take up nine standard vehicle tires without rims to either the Shafter-Wasco or the Taft landfills and dump them for free. On Oct. 21, residents can do the same at the Bena Landfill. Residents can only take nine tires per trip to stay in accordance with state law.
- The video shows what happens when a tire is dropped off at a landfill. They are collected in a bin outdoors, before being stored in a trailer which will then be taken to be recycled once it is full.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
For many across Kern county, heading to the dump is a normal weekend chore and for two weekends in October, Kern County Public Works is holding free tire drop off days, but it begs the question what is the cost and and what is the environmental impact if they’re not disposed of properly.
The event will take place at the Shafter-Wasco and Taft landfills on October 7th, and the Bena landfill on October 21 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and it’s open to the public free of charge.
In order to dump your tires, they must be regular vehicle tires, with out rims, loads must be tarped for transport and to abide by state law, you can only bring nine tires per trip.
The program is run in conjunction with Clean California and the Cesar Chavez Conservation Corps to take in the tires and then recycle them and the county believes events like this are important because they open up avenues for residents to help keep their community clean free of charge..
“If residents take advantage of these opportunities that are out there for them, then we won’t have as much illegal dumping, we wont see as many tires on the sides of the road and it’s just a good opportunity for everyone. To have something that they have in their backyard, they have on the side, they have all these tires piled up, they can just get rid of at these events," said Karina Mendez from Kern County Public Work.
According to Cal Recycle estimates, in 2018 Californians generated 51.1 million waste tires, and they have to go somewhere. In recent history, tires have been recycled in many different ways, from being ground up and layered into astroturf, rubberized asphalt like a running track, to tire derived fuels. But according to the EPA, if tires are not disposed of properly, they can collect rainwater and become breeding grounds for rodents and mosquitoes, and tires in stockpiles also can ignite because of their ability to retain heat, creating tire fires that put off hazardous chemicals and are difficult to put out.
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