Tire Collection Summary
MMSWMD started collecting tires at one-day collection events back in the Fall of 1997 to help cleanup old piles of tires. Since that time MMSWMD has collected over 3,000 tons of tires, the equivalent of 308,104 passenger tires, at 48 tire collection events, six each in every county in the District. The total cost of these tire collections to MMSWMD exceeds $400,000.
For the first four collections in each county MMSWMD took tires at no charge and loosely enforced a policy taking a maximum of 50 tires. It was hugely popular and was successful in removing many tons of tires from the environment. Unfortunately, as with any give away program, it was abused by tire dealers, small businesses and others until it became clear that many people were choosing to save tires until a tire collection was held rather than pay a small fee and leave them with the tire dealer. During the fifth round MMSWMD started to assess a small fee for people who brought in too many tires, or tires on rims without first registering, and the staff at the collection events were more strict with businesses that were trying to sneak tires in. MMSWMD also got the cities and counties that hosted the events to contribute more labor to hold the costs down. Still the cost of the final set of eight free tire collections was over $90,000!
In addition to the high cost, the lines were so long that they often interferred with traffic flow and people frequently had to wait in line for over an hour. Worst of all instead of cleaning up piles, we were encouraging people to save tires until the next freebie, so we were creating tire piles instead of cleaning them up. The limit of 50 tires (intended to cut down on tire dealers who would charge the public a fee and then bring us the tires for no charge) prevented people with very large piles from getting them all cleaned up at one time. In 2005, the MMSWMD implemented a policy where we charge for tires (see below), but we will also go on-site to clean up piles of 50 tires or more. The new policy is available on the tires page.
The charts below show that while the new policy cut back drastically on the number of tires brought in, it also reduced our cost per tire, even though we frequently charged people less than full price, especially for on-site cleanups, and we gave cities and counties a greatly reduced charge on tires they cleaned up. All of the tires from the tire collections and on-site cleanups have been loaded, hauled and processed into tire-derived fuel or crumb rubber by Alternative Fuel Source of Odessa Missouri. They have won competitive bids for all 48 tire collections and the 18 on-site cleanups.
MMSWMD will continue to do tire collections and the on-site cleanups with the goal of removing old tire piles. We are trying to provide at least a minimal amount of service for those who are unaware of other legal options or unwilling to use other legal options due to financial constraints. A fee will be charged for future collections for three reasons. First, MMSWMD needs to offset costs to keep the program sustainable. Second, people need to be aware that there is a cost to properly dispose of most items, and some items like tires and old appliances have an added cost because they are durable, cause special problems with disposal, and because they are banned from landfills in Missouri. Finally, the charge discourages scrap dealers, tire dealers and others that can find affordable outlets in their normal operation of their business, but like to cut corners and save a buck by having MMSWMD pay for a load of tires for them once a year.
