Dr. Karen Bell
Keep Liberty Beautiful
We need tires to get around in our cars and trucks. Tires are convenient when attached to your vehicle and help you get around every day. But what happens when good tires go bad?
Tires eventually wear out or are damaged and must be replaced. Ideally, all tires should be turned in for recycling or reconditioning for continued use. Actually, about 83% of tires are now recycled each year. Unfortunately, thousands still end up in local landfills and on the side of the road. Tires also end up in people’s yards or, sadly, are dumped illegally into creeks, wooded areas, or fields. When individuals illegally leave their tires, they break the law and create an environmental and health hazard.
On Saturday, November 18, the Liberty County Solid Waste Department and Keep Liberty Beautiful will hold a Tire Roundup Day for Liberty County residents. The event is sponsored by 104 Logistic LLC, located in Midway. The Tire Roundup will be held at the Liberty County Community Complex Midway from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
• Tires generated from commercial ventures will not be accepted.
• We will only accept tires for cars, SUVs, and light trucks.
• Semi tires or larger and racing slicks will not be accepted.
• There will not be a fee for the tires turned in.
We often do not have a budget to provide free tire turn-in events. Still, occasionally, it helps to have an event like this to encourage local residents to turn in tires they may have lying around. We continue to look for grants to apply for to hold Tire Roundup events.
Because tires are breeding grounds for mosquitoes, it is best to have them disposed of correctly. Tires are also attractive living areas for several local animals, such as snakes. I do not like snakes or mosquitoes, so please turn in any of those unwanted tires.
Tires that are collected but cannot be reconditioned with new tread can be recycled and sent to companies that reprocess them. Old tires can be shredded or melted down and used to make other materials, such as asphalt to pave roads or mulch to create playground surfaces. Isn’t that a better option for tires than spending an eternity in a landfill? So, I encourage you to bring in any tires around your home.
Once again, this is not an option for tires generated from commercial ventures. We will only accept tires during the period of 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, November 18. Any tires left in the vicinity before or after the event will be treated as an illegal dumping violation. The collection location will be under camera surveillance, so I encourage people to abide by these rules.
Illegal dumping penalties are pretty severe. According to the Georgia Comprehensive Litter Prevention and Abatement Act of 2006, Code Section, it is a felony punishable with a fine of up to $25,000 and a five-year prison term. So, if you are thinking about dumping tires, think twice.
Keep Liberty Beautiful wants to Thank the 104 Logistic LLC Scrap Tires Collection for partnering with us for this event. If you have a need to recycle tires, you can contact 104 Logistic LLC at (912) 2559679 or quote@104logisticllc. com. Liberty County, you have a couple of weeks to round up your tires and encourage your neighbors to do the same to help our community. For more information about the Tire Roundup Day, contact Keep Liberty Beautiful at (912) 880-4888 or klcb@libertyountyga. com. Also, you can visit the KLB website www. keeplibertybeautiful.org, for more information on all our upcoming events, like Rivers Alive. You can sign up for this event at https://rb.gy/080os!