How to Dispose of Bike Tires
Eventually, cyclists need to replace worn-out tires, just as on a car. Unlike with car tires, however, there is not quite as great an emphasis on recycling bicycle tires, and many recycling facilities will not accept them. If you're interested in recycling bike tires, you'll need to do a little research to find out the options in your area.
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Instructions
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Contact a local tire recycling facility. There is likely a facility nearby that recycles car tires. Find out whether it also accept bike tires. You may need to pay a fee for tire recycling. If you're not sure who recycles tires in your area, contact the local waste management agency or a local automotive tire repair shop.
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Contact local bike shops. If the local recycling facility doesn't take bike tires, call bike shops in your area to find out whether there are other recycling programs in place. Bike shops often serve as a conduit to the greater bicycling community and also have plenty of old tires themselves--find out what they do with old tires. Bike clubs and co-ops may also be helpful.
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Recycle the tubes. Some companies use recycled bike tubes for manufacturing new products. A short list is available in the Resources section below. You could also discuss this with bike shops to see whether they're aware of any such local companies.
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Throw the tires away. If you can't find a recycler who accepts bike tires or simply don't want to go through the effort, dispose of used tires in the trash. To limit impact, consider carefully cutting the tire into small pieces to condense the size of the tire.
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Think of alternate uses. If you're still feeling guilty about throwing away the tire, come up with another use for it--the simplest form of recycling. Consider uses for the tire both in its whole form and in pieces. Alternately, if you changed the tires for style reasons and they're not worn out or dangerous to ride on, consider giving them to another cyclist, selling them or donating them to a local bike program.
While tires might be a challenge to reuse, tubes' smooth, elastic properties make for a variety of possible uses. Follow the Resource link below for some ideas.
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