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Sharjah puts used tyres to good use

In an interview with Khaleej Times, Yahya Ramadan Al Balushi, head of the Environment Protection Section at Sharjah Municipality pointed out that although used tyres generated in Sharjah, constitute only about one to two per cent of the total solid municipal waste dumped in the landfill, they are very specific type of waste which must be re-used or recycled. He explained that a new tyre shredder was put into service a few months back to shred about 20 to 25 tonnes of used tyres per day.

"The municipality is holding negotiations with some specialised recycling companies and other companies will be asked to participate in the recycling project," he said, praising the efforts of Engineer Ahmed Fikri, the civic body director-general who is pursuing these projects in collaboration with the environment protection section team.

Talking about the importance of recycling used tyres, he clarified that tyres are tremendously usable resources and can be re-used or recycled to make end products from rubber granulate, roofing materials, anti-sound and shock barriers, sport-tracks, and different rubber-plastic products.

"The collection of used tyres from garages, auto repair shops, among others, has increased with the raise in population and vehicle ownership in Sharjah in the past 10 years. This situation has created a disposal challenge as old tyres cannot be incinerated because of the adverse environmental effects of the process."

"Other useful recycling options include re-treading or re-using old tyres to produce cover materials, drainage layers, among others, from shredded or cut tyres."

"The same number of tyres is also disposed in old landfills, located near Sharjah University City, the prevailing situation of dumped tyres in the landfill area created numerous public health and environmental hazards, like fire and gas emissions," he pointed out.

Mr Balushi said that tyres from motor vehicles constitute the most important single item of rubber in terms of volume and value. "Because of their use, tyres vary considerably in types of materials used in its making, as an average composition of car or light trucks tyres, there is about 50 per cent rubber, 20 per cent carbon black, 15 per cent steel, and about 15 per cent fibre, including other chemicals, like zinc oxide, and sulphur," he added.

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