What is A Scrap Tire?

Scrap tire means any tire or part of it that no longer is suitable for its original intended purpose by virtue of wear, damage, or defect.

A Risk to Public Health and the Environment

Waste tires present a number of environmental, health and safety hazards to the public and represent a serious public nuisance. About 31 million scrap tires are generated and stockpiled each year in California.

Scrap tires can:

• Provide good living conditions for mosquitoes that can spread diseases such as Encephalitis and West Nile Virus.
• Provide breeding grounds for rats, snakes, ticks, and other vectors.
• Present a fire hazard when improperly stored. Experience has shown that large tire fires can burn for weeks causing the rubber to decompose into oil, which may pollute ground and surface water.