Date: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 11:31:56 -0400
From: Michael Tucker
Subject: Dr. Dykers’ post about old tires – DO NOT BURN!!!
Dr. Dykers did not burn his old tires. Burning was his intention back in the old days but burning is HIGHLY ILLEGAL today. You can get a $10,000 fine and jail time now!
I was going to make my next post about county supervisors’ attitudes of disrespect but that post will have to wait. This one is more important.
TIRES MUST BE DISPOSED OF PROPERLY. CHATHAM COUNTY WILL TAKE YOUR TIRES FOR FREE. The county has already been paid to take your tires from you at no charge.
Any county resident (notice i did not use the word, “citizen”) may bring five tires to any county collection site around the county for free. You can bring five tires twice in a year (for a total of ten per year). If you have more tires than ten, you will need to work out special arrangements with the county. Just do not expect to be treated with respect UNLESS you are Jim Goodnight or best friends with the county manager.
The county may charge you $0.70 per tire if you have more than five tires or you cannot prove your residency.
The county container site contract workers are very precise and diligently count each one. That is the private sector.
The solid waste supervisor does not check if you bring more than five tires to the landfill. I have seen people bring lots of tires and no one counts. They do weigh your vehicle but how do they know, or validate, to be
certain? They are not certain. The county solid waste director does not care. Lots of other counties have a county worker stand there and count each one.
So let’s be clear. The county supervisor does not really care how many scrap tires you bring to the landfill site. BIG DIFFERENCE between the public and private sectors. We will explore why in a future post.
To specifically answer Dr. Dykers’ question. . .
Yes, tire RUBBER can be used in asphalt. NO STEEL. The big problem with “the way we have always processed tires” (their processes NOT MINE) is when you cut up tires the steel remains embedded in the rubber. It has been more expensive to separate the rubber from the steel than what you can generate in marketable material. THAT is why they put the pieces into a monofil (big hole in the ground). Too much rubber in the steel. Too much steel in the rubber.
My company (in Phase One) cuts up old tires in very specific ways
:
* to use roadbeds instead of dirt and/or gravel. This lasts five times longer than just gravel and does not wash out with rain.
* storage containers
* handicap ramp
* rip rap instead of rock to prevent soil erosion
* septic fields instead of rock
* retaining walls
* fences that last a LONG time
* pistol and rifle range backstops
* archery range backstops
* instead of fill dirt
Tire-Derived Fuel (TDF) burns hotter and cleaner than coal in the right kind of furnaces. Crumb rubber (no steel) becomes floor mats, playground surfaces, running track surfaces, etc. The steel can be recycled. An average tire has 12 pounds of rubber and 8 pounds of high quality, valuable tensile steel.
In Phase Two, my company will be able to separate the rubber and steel cheaper and sell BOTH!! 100% recycled. NO MONOFIL. But, instead of cooperating with me, the Chatham County solid waste director would rather not.
The Pennsylvania company that has the North Carolina monopoly (and Chatham County’s renewed contract) has permits for monofils. Huge holes in the ground to bury cut up tires FOREVER. They have raised their prices over time with no improvement in customer service.
Every tire my company has processed to date (HUNDREDS/TONS) has been 100% recycled – REUSED. NO MONOFIL. There is NO federally regulated waste on site.
But I do not deserve a call back, Email reply, face-to-face visit for months.