Bonn, January 25.01.2022th, XNUMX Again and again, worn tires in Germany are carelessly discarded in nature. Unlawful dumping is a criminal offense and entails high fines. For the safety of people and the environment, the ZARE initiative demands: Old tires belong in the hands of certified disposal companies.
It has been banned in Germany since 2003 to store tires in landfills. Due to their special composition of rubber, steel, textiles and other substances, tires must be disposed of properly. Tires decompose very slowly and endanger people and nature if they are not disposed of properly: If tires are dumped in the forest or on the side of the road, toxic substances can get into the ground, there is a higher risk of fire and tires that have accumulated water and dirt attract mosquitoes which in turn can transmit diseases.
Despite these dangers from illegal landfills, the problem with tires thrown away without permission is still big: in 2021 alone, the ZARE initiative counted 195 cases of illegal disposal of used tires. That is 31 more than in the previous year. The ZARE initiative has been documenting reported illegal disposals throughout Germany since 2016 - the numbers are increasing every year. Since these are only the reported cases, the number of unreported cases is probably much higher.
Environmentally friendly disposal is possible
The ZARE initiative is an association of companies and waste disposal companies that are committed to professional tire recycling. Certified used tire disposal companies check every used tire carefully and take it to the most sustainable recycling path - depending on their condition, old tires are retreaded, exported as used tires or materially and thermally recycled.
During material recycling, used tires are broken down into their individual components, crushed into rubber granulate and processed into new products such as floor coverings, sealing materials or as an additive to road asphalt. In thermal recycling, tires are burned and used to generate energy. Although retreading, export and material recycling are preferable to incineration, all of these recycling methods show that used tires are much too valuable to simply be thrown away carelessly in nature. Because used tires are a valuable raw material that should definitely be recycled and used as efficiently as possible in the interests of the circular economy. Certified disposal companies guarantee professional tire recycling that protects the environment and conserves increasingly scarce resources.
About the ZARE initiative
The ZARE initiative is an amalgamation of 18 companies organized in the Federal Association of Tire Trade and Vulcanizing Trades (BRV), 16 of which are certified waste management companies. The ZARE partners have set themselves the task of raising awareness of professional tire recycling in Germany. ZARE informs drivers about the environmentally friendly disposal of used tires. At 25 locations, the ZARE partners cover almost all of Germany and the Netherlands.
The partners of the initiative are:
Allgemeine Gummiwertstoff und Reifenhandels GmbH, Bender Reifen Recycling GmbH, CVS Reifen GmbH, Danninger OHG Spezialtransporte, Hartung Speditions-, Handels- und Transport GmbH, HRV GmbH, KARGRO BV, KRAIBURG Austria GmbH & Co. KG, KURZ Karkassenhandel GmbH, Mondo Reifenmarkt GmbH , MRH Mülsener Rohstoff- und Handelsgesellschaft mbH, NZ-Entsorgung eK, Reifen DRAWS GmbH, Reifen Külshammer, Reifengruppe Ruhr, REIFEN OKA - tire trade, tire recycling company Brenz GmbH, TireTech GmbH
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Figure 1: zare_location_map_illegale-tire-disposal
Caption: The ZARE initiative's "illegal deposits of scrap tyres" map.
Source: ZARE initiative
