Thread: Tires Used As Fuel

I have watched an episode of Dirty Jobs about recycling the used tires. Did you know that many of the used tires are being burned to cook or process cement?

Do you think the burning of the tires will have bad effect on the environment?

I saw that episode, too! I can't remember what the process was for recycling the tires, though, and how effective the fuel was. I definitely think tire-burning is bad for the environment, but the cost of creating recycling centers for them may not be profitable enough to attract entrepeneurs looking to start a business.

I saw that episode too on dirty jobs. I love that show! I was disgusted really by what they were doing. I would think it is totally gross to cook in something that was an old tire.

I would not think that they would be allowed to burn tires if it was bad for the environment.

I'd hope that a facility designed to burn tires would filter the harmful elements out of the smoke that was escaping.

This reminds me of those tire fires that just happen where a lot are being stored.

I recall a major fire at a used tire storage facility, a number of years ago near Hamilton in Ontario, I believe they even used water bombers to try to put the fire out, it went on for days.
The one thing I remember was that the ditches were filled with petroleum as the chemical reaction from the fire was turning the rubber into petroleum. I was wondering at the time if it would be feasible to extract the various chemicals from old tires, such as petroleum to make gasoline and a variety of other products.
Maybe there is an industry doing this now or it might not be economically viable, but then again with the focus on the environment, I wonder if its something that is being pursued or should be pursued.

Originally Posted by speedster

I would not think that they would be allowed to burn tires if it was bad for the environment.

With the right price they can. But I guess they have some sort of filtering device. We'll never know if they filter the smoke or not unless Mike will show it in their show.