Around the world, efforts are being made to take on the huge problems caused by dumping end-of-life tyres with recycling efforts. And the piles of thousands of used car tyres are growing a little smaller. However Australian tyre expert Chris Lett claims that a good way to cut down the number of dumped tyres would be to avoid disposal of tyres that have not yet reached the end of their road and are still safe and functional. And the owner of veteran Burleigh Heads and Southport tyre company Branigans says this can safely be done with controlled re-sale of still functional tyres.
End of Life Tyre Dumping Has Caused Chaos
As it stands, Lett says an estimated 1.5 billion used vehicle tyres are discarded globally every year. Around 50 million of them are in Australia. These have created havoc and hazards at landfills as a result of the threat some of their components pose to the environment, their size, and their resilience. This chaos has lead to many countries and US states slapping a ban on their being disposed of at landfills and led to calls for recycling instead.
Lett views himself as a recycler. But unlike other recyclers currently seeking ways to re-use the rubber in the production of new tyres, burn them to derive fuel for use chiefly in cement manufacture, and to determine its suitability as an alternative material for roads, Chris Lett has for the past 15 years chosen his own brand of recycling. This takes the form of reselling slightly-used premium tyres for far less than their original cost.
Call to Cut Back on Unnecessary Dumping
“Dumping tyres which are still perfectly good for further use is adding to the waste disposal problem, and is contrary to general efforts to counteract the environmental impact of waste,” Lett said. “Tyres do eventually degrade in a landfill after a period of 50 to 80 years. But during that period their bulk, resilience and the fire risk they create, make them strong threats.”
He said trying to deal with the situation by making it illegal to dump tyres at landfills, is not an ideal solution. Instead it has created a scenario in which tyres are now simply being dumped on the side of the road or in remote areas. This lessened the tyre disposal load on controlled landfills by shifting it elsewhere to areas which are not controlled by waste management.
Why Throw Away Good Tyres?
Chris Lett, who has been in the tyre industry for about 15 years, said buying recycled used tyres did have its problems, as was the case with any second-hand deal. But provided the buyer uses only established outlets like Branigans which have solid reputations and which test and grade tyres carefully, these tyres should be serviceable for a few years.
For further information, visit or call Chris and his team for Second Hand Tyres Gold Coast |Branigans Budget Tyres Service Centre at either Burleigh Heads (07) 5535 2660 or Southport (07) 5591 8633.
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