Environmental Progress - Fall 2004

Illinois EPA's Countywide Used Tire Collection Program Help Protect Public Health

Record number held in 2004

With the presence of serious mosquito-related diseases, such as West Nile Virus and other forms of encephalitis, the removal of mosquito breeding habitats is critical to the protection of human health in Illinois. The Northern House Mosquito (Culex pipiens) is the primary carrier of West Nile Virus and other diseases. It is also the mosquito species whose larvae are most often found in improperly managed used tires.

Since used tires that are improperly managed and allowed to accumulate water provide a prime breeding habitat for known disease-carrying mosquito species, the Illinois EPA's Countywide Used Tire Collection Program provides a vital service to units of local government and the citizens of Illinois.

Since the inception of the Illinois EPA's Used Tire Program in 1990, countywide used tire collection events have been an integral part of used and waste tire cleanups. These countywide collections have been very popular with units of local government throughout the state and the citizens that they represent. The collections are conducted under the authority of the Environmental Protection Act utilizing funds generated from the tire user fee assessed on retail customers.

The Illinois EPA co-sponsored a record number of countywide used tire collections in 2004. In conjunction with units of local government, primarily county health departments, the Illinois EPA conducted 32 countywide used tire collections throughout the state this year. The counties are selected based on requests from units of local government, and the collection sites are strategically located so that every Illinois citizen can participate without driving a great distance to the collection site. In 2004, more than 5500 tons (the equivalent of more than 440,000 passenger tires) of used tires were collected from more than 7500 citizens.

Over the past 14 years, the Illinois EPA has co-sponsored 405 countywide collections, which has resulted in the collection and proper disposal or recycling of more than 56,000 tons of used tires (the equivalent of more than 4.5 million passenger tires) from more than 82,000 citizens.

The majority of the used tires that are collected from these events are converted into tire-derived fuel, which is burned for energy recovery in utility boilers. Other uses for the used tires collected involve recycling into various materials including playground flooring, horse arena flooring, rubber landscape mulch. Also, some of the used tires are converted into crumb rubber for use on athletic fields, running tracks, and the manufacture of various rubber products for the automotive and home improvement industries.

Counties that wish to host a collection provide the advertising, facility, and volunteers for the event while the Illinois EPA provides the used tire removal contractor and funding for all used tire transportation from the collection site to the appropriate processing facility. Under the Environmental Protection Act, the Illinois EPA is authorized to collect for removal up to 1000 used tires from an individual's property at no cost to the property owner, provided the property owner signs a Consensual Removal Agreement (CRA).

However, businesses that generate used tires, such as tire retailers, trucking companies, and salvage yards are not eligible to participate in these collections.