South Carolina DHEC collects estimated 40,000 waste tires in first year of recycling campaign

Since starting a campaign aimed to eliminate tire stockpiles one year ago, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) has collected more than 100 piles, equaling an estimated 40,000 waste tires, reports WCIV.

The “See It, Report It" initiative, partnered with the PalmettoPride and S.C. Department of Natural Resources, focused on collecting discarded tires in South Carolina, whether it's in rivers, forests or the side of the road, which can have public health and environmental risks.

“The campaign gives residents the opportunity to help take care of their communities, and they have responded,” Juli Blalock, assistant chief of the Bureau of Land and Waste Management, told WCIV. “We often find out about tire piles before they have a chance to grow reducing the health and environmental risks as well as the time and expense in the removal of the pile.”

The waste tires are sent to recycling facilities and transformed into rubberized playground surfaces, landscape mulch, truck bed mats and plenty other reusable products.

The DHEC encourages South Carolina residents to report tire dumps by calling the Litter Buster Hotline at 1-877-7 LITTER or using the “Report a Litterbug” option at www.palmettopride.org, where the complaints will by managed by city or country solid waste departments, litter control officers, DHEC or by DNR, depending on the size, location and nature of the pile.

Fines for first-time offenses may be as high as $10,000 per day for each violation.