Residents of Montgomery County, Maryland, will soon have a chance to get rid of old scrap tires during a special collection and recycling event taking place this week.
The county’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced that, from Monday, Sept. 25, to Friday, Sept. 29, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., it will be hosting a free scrap tire drop-off at the Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Stations located at 16101 Frederick Road in Derwood.
The collection is for county residents only and is limited to 10 tires per resident.
In addition to safe disposal of tires, the DEP said those that can be recycled “can be repurposed as rubberized asphalt, wastewater treatment filters, building materials, erosion control and can also be used as an alternative fuel.”
“The more items we can put to reuse the better for all of us,” county executive Marc Elrich said. “This event is a convenient opportunity for residents to do their part for our environment by turning old tires into new products and materials. By recycling more materials, we are throwing away less trash which moves us closer to our zero waste goals.”
The Maryland Department of the Environment and Maryland Environmental Service are also partners in the event, and funding comes from the 80-cent recycling fee on new tires sold in the state.
DEP said that, when arriving at the site, participants should follow signs to the recycling area and look for a trailer marked “tires.”
Here are some additional guidelines for dropping off tires:
- Tires must be clean of dirt and mud.
- Only small truck and passenger car tires will be accepted; no commercial tires are allowed.
- Commercial haulers or generators of scrap tires will not be permitted.
- Tires may be up to 33 inches in diameter. Tires with or without rims are accepted.
- Bicycle tires and tubes are also accepted.
- A driver’s license is required to track the number of tires each resident brings to the facility.
For more information on this collection event, visit the Montgomery County DEP website.
