Yessir

Interesting link Alibaba but a bit of lateral thinking will be required before much gets done locally and this is probably the worst time in history for me to bring up the subject. Tyres can still be utilised in a few years if we have an upturn. By that time we may all be retyred !! ( just had to pop that in for Albert )

Thanks for your replies. They only go to show that there is an unaddressed problem and that some of you have commercial quantities to deal with. Of course tyres can be recycled without being incinerated. Examples of use are: Tiles and tile adhesives, mixing with asphalt, sports surfaces, carpet underlay, noise and vibration insulation, playgrounds and matting. I believe the crumbs can also be re-used for tyre manufacture, their price being one third the price of the raw materials. Up to 50% can be used for large industrial tyes for slow speed applications. The textiles that reinforce the tyres can be separated and a shredding machine manufacturer mentions a growing demand for this material (not found out what for). There was a progamme on TV some years ago about a back yard furnace design which burned tyres whole, with unburnable materials e.g. steel cord, being removed at the end of the process. This furnace generated a vortex and was also fed with compressed air to reach very high temperatures indeed, which vapourised the smoke, presumably to carbon dioxide. As much of the rubber of a tyre is natural rubber from trees then that proportion would presumably be rated as "carbon zero". On our Island, it seems the main problem of almost everlasting tyres is a large surplus now building up on farms. The small handful I have in my garden are spares, which I bought secondhand for a car I ran years ago but I never used them. I will not fly tip them. I could bury them but it would have to be very deep and I don't have the strength I once did. Remembering the amnesty that the Government had on more than one occasion for toxic garden and farm chemicals, maybe they would consider a well advertised amnesty for tyre disposal, even if it was at a handful of recycling points and over a limited period of time? The foremost company in Britain using waste rubber from tyres is www.rubber-recovery.com some of their quoted applications are as follows: All-weather sports surfaces Multi-sport arenas Tennis courts Children's play areas Football pitches Indoor sports arenas Athletics tracks Hockey pitches Netball courts Golf walkways

I have made enquiries at the Government Recycling Department. They tell me that there is a machine at the incinerator for shredding tyres which can then be burned to produce a huge amount of energy. However, no one in the government has thought to place tyre collection bins at any of the public refuse and recycling points and tyres can only be accepted at the incinerator from tyre vendors who only accept surplus tyres from the public at their discretion and then normally make a charge ( unless anyone knows otherwise). Why are tyres treated differently to other recyclables and surely this policy or lack of any policy is the cause of the increasing number of tyres seen fly tipped in the countryside and no doubt in urban areas too. Is there anyone in Government who might have the initiative to improve this situation? I cannot see it being a high cost issue.