stockpiling / landfilling

The estimated legacy stockpile of waste rubber (including land filled materials) is in excess of 21 million tonnes. It is also estimated that a further 2.5 million tonnes are added to these stockpiles yearly.

There is increasing environmental concern that stockpiles tyres may be hazardous.

Three points of particular concern are that:

stockpiled rubber can be a fire hazard. Tyre dump fires are difficult to put out and pollute the air and ground water. Underground dumps, if ignited, can burn for a number of years.

stockpiled rubber can create a biological hazard, harbouring bacteria, micro-organisms and providing a breeding ground for pests.

buried rubber, in particular tyres, moves over time. This can cause disturbance of landfill sites and severely limit the reuse of landfilled sites.

Legislation is currently in place in the US and Europe to restrict the landfilling of tyres and other rubber waste materials.

stockpiling / landfilling

further background