Green

Getting Rid of the Stockpile Mentality

Today, a good number of people are appreciating the benefits of recycling paper, plastic and other materials. But, if there was one thing we could not bring ourselves to recycle, it would be tires. Enter stockpiles, which is a metaphor for how the rest of the world behaves (read: procrastination) around the idea of re-creating a greener place to live in. Stockpiles of tires lie around in scrap yards and garages, and have a lot of impact on waste reduction, and ultimately environment and climate improvement.

Why are tires left in stockpiles anyway? Unlike paper or plastic, tires are created with tough and durable rubber material, which makes the task tedious, and for some, impossible. There is at least one discarded tire for ever person every year, and when the stockpiles in garages and yards become overwhelming, the tires are brought to landfills, which are another serious environmental issues that also have great health implications especially to people living within the landfill sites’ vicinity. This is because landfills are generally damp, and toxins from the rubber tires can leak into the soil and can endanger people, plants and animals. The truth is, means to recycle tires have actually been invented more than 100 years ago.

In 1820, Thomas Hancock created the “Masticator”, an industrial machine which could tear up old tires into bits and pieces, to make the recycling even easier. Pieces of the rubber which have been “masticated” are then mashed even further, like dough, and then shaped into large blocks which will eventually be used to create new rubber materials and products. So it is about time industries got rid of the stockpile, or the procrastination mentality and do something about those tires today, because, you have read, it isn’t at all impossible.