Sometimes American consumers have to pay not only to get a product, but also to get rid of it.

For Americans this is often true -- in the case of automobile tires, fore example.  In the US it is illegal to throw away an old tire by just leaving it on the side of the road.  Americans are asked to fight this laziness and notify authorities about “offenders.”  A law-abiding American pays $0.50-2.00 to recycle every tire or dispose of it in an environmentally friendly fashion.  Recycling truck tires costs more -- $3-5 each.

In 1985, Minnesota became the first US state to introduce a special law on used tires.  Today, 48 states have such laws (Alaska and Delaware are as the only exceptions).  However, officials in different states use different methods for collecting payments for used tires.  The cost can be added to the of price a new tire, or to the registration of a vehicle.  Some repair shops add the charge when replacing old tires.  At other times, car owners pay for the utilization of the tire at recycling centers.  Out of the 33 states that have official programs for collecting on tire wastes, 21 spend the money on recycling.  19 states support private recycling companies with subsidies and lucrative credits.

Several decades ago, getting rid of old tires was a problem not only for environmental protection groups, but also for state governments.  Growing tire dumps “decorated” city outskirts breeding mice, rats and mosquitoes, as well as posing fire hazards.  In 1983, in Reinhart, Virginia a tire dump with 7 million tires caught fire.  A cloud of smoke rose 1 kilometer and stretched to 80.5 kilometers in circumference.  The fire raged for 9 months, polluting the air and water in the nearby regions with led and arsenic.  Another “tire fire” that went down in history broke out near the California city of Westley, in one of the mountain canyons that had served as a tire dump for many years.  This fire threatened an entire farming region, which was not only covered by a black cloud of poisonous smoke, but also needed to restore communication facilities flooded by streams of toxic waste from burning tires.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spent $3.5 million to put out the fire, which continued for thirty days.

New techniques for recycling used tires and a decrease in the number of tires buried promoted the market that can recycle up to 77.6% of used tires.  On average, Americans get rid of 281 million tires a year, while 281 million new tires enter the market annually. The Rubber Manufacturers Association reports that 115 million old tires are used as fuel. According to US standards, an average tire is equivalent to 7 gallons of oil.  Milled rubber from tires provides 10-16% more fuel than stone coal. (VG)