
				Pat Quinn, Governor

Agency Links

Info Centers

To report
environmental
emergencies
only, call the
Illinois Emergency
Management Agency
800-782-7860
217-782-7860
(24 hrs/day)

Environmental Progress - Fall 1997

Winebago County Tire "Round-up" Rolls Them In, Moves Them Out

Winnebago County takes initiative to deal with scrap tire problem.

In a move to clean up the local environment, Winnebago County organized a Tire Round-up this summer that, in its first two days, sent more than 24,000 tires to new uses while removing an environmental problem.

Old tires came in by the truckload at the Winnebago County collection

County Board Chairman Kristine Cohn organized the event in partnership with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Countywide, free all day tire collections were held July 25, Aug. 8 and Aug. 25. Chairman Cohn invited county townships to conduct their own mini tire drives, and eight of the county's 14 townships responded. Though the initial goal had been to collect 20,000 tires, that number was exceeded by the second collection date.

Tires were picked up by Waste Recovery Inc. and taken to Marseilles, where they found new destinies as playground mulch, carpet backing or energy-efficient, environmentally safe fuel.

The Illinois EPA underwrote the cost of the collection, where inmates from the county's Periodic Imprisonment Services provided some of the labor.