It’s a wrap with Tire Amnesty 2023!
“We have held two more successful Tire Amnesty events in our area,” comments NC RC&D President Mike Burge, “In April, we held one in partnership with the Village of Stuart. It was very successful! And this week, we collected tires in partnership with the Keya Papa County Commissioners. Again, tires piled up quickly.” Mike Burge continues, “It works well to partner with different communities within our 6 county area. Having held three collections, working with the communities and the Nebraska Department of Energy and Environment has been very smooth. The majority of the funding comes from an NDEE grant which really opens the door to having the tire amnesty events. Then, to fill in the gap, we ask those that are participating, if they would want to donate to help cover the rest. This combination really is proving successful.”
NC RC&D held their first tire amnesty in Valentine in 2021 and now these two. To date, we have collected 900 ton of old tires. All collections have been in partnership with the NDEE. There are plans to apply again this fall for another one or two locations in the 6 county area. RC&D provides tire amnesty plus other recycling collections in Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Holt, Keya Paha & Rock County.
RC&D would like to recognize and thank those that helped make these events work so well. Thank you to NE Department of Energy & Environment, also Keya Paha County and the Village of Stuart. A special thank you to Stuart Fertilizer in Stuart and the Community Scale in Springview for providing their scales to get accurate weights. “It is important to accurately keep track of the volume we are collecting,” reports, Director Kim Burge, “ Each grant was for 300 ton and we want to be as close to that target as we can get. Having a scale in each community ensures we get accurate info for the large loads. For the smaller loads, we estimate weight, based on tire type- car, pickup, semi-tractor tire, etc. Of course, that isn’t as accurate so knowing we can depend on the weigh tickets for the majority help to keep fairly accurate data.
“Tire Amnesty events are fun to offer. People are getting rid of these old tires, some have been around 40- 50 years. So those bringing them in are happy to have a recycling opportunity while getting the tires off their property,” adds Kim Burge. Another big thank you goes out to Annette, Brian and staff at the Butler County Landfill. Many ask where the tires go, after they have been collected. In the grant process, those using old tires bid on the projects. Butler County Landfill won the contract for both Keya Paha County and Village of Stuart. The tires they collect are ground up and used for daily cover at the Butler County Landfill.