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Management of Scrap Tires in the Border Region

The management of scrap tires is a significant challenge along the Texas-Mexico border. Find out more about this issue and how to properly dispose of scrap tires.

Problems with Scrap Tires

Scrap tires often get dumped illegally in large piles at the border, causing the following problems:

  • Fires - Tire fires are difficult and expensive to extinguish and can cause air quality problems for several miles. Children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to this air pollution.
  • Mosquitoes that spread diseases - Piles of tires provide places for rainwater to collect and then mosquitoes to breed. This then causes another public health problem—the spreading of diseases such as dengue and West Nile virus.

Although scrap tires are a challenge on both sides of the border, it is a larger issue on the Mexican side. Used tires from the U.S. still have just enough tread to be attractive for purchase in Mexico. Those tires have a short life before they are abandoned as scrap.

Find out how to transport and Dispose of Scrap Tires

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