3 Reasons Recycled Tires Are The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

Much like art, recycled tires are everywhere. In fact, you might even be sitting on some right now.

Yes, you read that right. Old tire rubber may be in your carpet pads, as well as your planters, bumpers, casters, asphalt, rubber bands, engine belts, artificial turfs, playground equipment, curb ramps, floor mats, new tires, or retreads.

Nowadays, we recycle about 80 percent of the tires we scrap. We either repurpose them or melt and reshape them into new objects. Thanks to our impressive feat, our landfills have 87% fewer tires today than they did in 1990.

While recycling tires is great solely because it helps keep rubber out of our landfills, we give this brilliant cultural habit three more brownie points because:

1. Recycled Tires Reduce Rubber Consumption

tire factory
Did you know that we set aside a whooping 60 percent of our new rubber supply just for tires? The remaining 40 percent goes to various things like rubber bands, floor mats, and engine belts.

By repurposing recycled tires into a bunch of different rubber products, we’re cutting down on our gluttonous harvesting of latex from rubber trees. We’re also cutting down on the manufacturing of petroleum-based synthetic rubber.

2. Recycled Tires Help Preserve The Environment

stack of tires
We toss out an insane amount of tires, about one tire per person per year. That adds up to over 300 million tires per year. It’s such a problem that most U.S. states enforce strict regulations on dumping tires in landfills.

The environmental repercussions of junking your tires are pretty serious. Toxins can leak into the soil, air, and water during the tire decomposition process. Also, tires increase the fire risk in landfills. Rubber burns easily and tire-fueled fires may be difficult to contain. Even worse, the smoke contains toxic chemicals that can wreak havoc on the atmosphere and eventually our respiratory systems.

By making a habit out of recycling the majority of our old tires, we have reduced:

  • Water pollution
  • The amount of toxins in our soil, air, and water
  • Our carbon footprint
  • Landfill waste

3. Recycled Tires Create More Jobs

tire recycling

Photo credit: GovernmentZA

Ever since recycled tires became a big thing in the 90s, tire recycling companies have been popping up everywhere. Know what that means? More jobs.

Here’s an interesting collection of facts about the impact recycling in general has on the job market:

  • Each ton of waste that is recycled generates $101 in salaries and wages, $275 in goods and services, and $135 in sales.
  • The recycling industry has created over 85,000 jobs and counting.
  • Recycling companies produce over $10 billion in goods and services every year.
  • Recycled products generate $200 million per year in sales tax revenues.

Of course, you can save a trip to your nearest tire recycling company and upcycle your tires into cool stuff you can use around your home. If you’re jones-ing for a DIY project, try out one of our 10 crazy items you can make with your old tires!

These reasons and more are why BRIDJIT Curb Ramps are made of recycled tires. In fact, each BRIDJIT curb ramp set is composed of 12 passenger tires! Find out more about how BRIDJIT is good for the environment and your low ground clearance vehicle here.