BY TRACY LEE TATE
Times Editor
LAKE BUTLER — Old tires are one of the most difficult household waste products to get rid of. You can pay a fee when you buy new tires, take a few a year to your solid waste disposal site or pay to dispose of them at the land fill. Although they are recyclables they are not in nearly as much in demand as other items, such as aluminum cans, and they take up a great deal of space and create problems on your property.
The Union County Solid Waste Department, as well as the Union County Board of Commissioners, are sensitive to the needs of residents who have bought old tires along with a piece of property or who have let them pile up for want of an economically pleasing solution and have offered a solution – a Florida Department of Agriculture program that allows tire to be disposed of for free.
The grant funded ($25,000) Waste Tire Amnesty Event was held, for the second year, outside of the office of the Solid Waste Department last weekend (April 1-3, 2022), allowing county residents to bring in up to 20 old, used tires and dispose of them. Global Tire Recycling had a 40-foot semi-trailer on site to stack the tires in and solid waste department employees were on hand for get the tires stacked in the trailer – as well as to assist those residents who needed a little help unloading their cargo. Residents were limited to 20 tires each, with off-road and commercial tires not being accepted.
Resident Nancy Bivens brought some tires in and was delighted to see the men from Solid Waste on hand. Bivens’ husband, Randel, had worked for the Union County Road Department (located in the same building as Solid Waste) prior to his death last summer from COVID-19 and she said that all of the men on hand had been his friends.
“It is good to see old friends and catch up a little,” Bivens said, also noting that it was wonderful to be able to dispose of her waste tires in a responsible manner.
The final tally of the event has not yet been communicated to Solid Waste Department Director Kim Hayes, but the numbers should be high. Hayes said she was glad to be able to help provide the service to county residents and hopes to do it again next year if grant funds are still available.
