MONTGOMERY – The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) announced it
is again offering counties up to $150,000 over three years to clean up discarded scrap tires from their
roadsides.
ADEM’s Scrap Tire Right of Way Program is available to all 67 counties. The funding is from the state’s
Scrap Tire Fund administered by ADEM. One dollar from the sale of each tire in Alabama goes into the
fund, which is used to cover the costs of cleaning up illegally discarded tires as well as promoting
recycling and other alternative uses of scrap tires that keep them out of landfills.
This is the latest three-year cycle for the program, which has been effective in the past in incentivizing
counties to pick up littered scrap tires from rights of way and dispose of them in an environmentally
responsible manner.
“Old, discarded tires strewn across the landscape are a problem in virtually every county, small or large,
rural or urban,” ADEM Director Lance LeFleur said. “These tires are not only eyesores, they are also
environmental and health hazards, including breeding grounds for mosquitoes, rodents and other pests.
This funding enables counties to address these problems when they might not otherwise could afford
the cost in manpower and equipment to do so.”
To take part in the program, the counties must sign an agreement with ADEM. They are reimbursed by
ADEM for expenses in the collection and disposal of the scrap tires, including recycling the tires for
beneficial use.
The program is similar to ADEM’s program that reimburses counties for the costs of cleaning up
unauthorized garbage dumps. That program is funded with a fee on garbage disposed in municipal
landfills.
“With these two programs, we are working directly with our local governments to clean up areas across
the state,” LeFleur said. “Together with our Help Keep Our Waters Clean program, which combats litter
in our watersheds, we believe we are making a positive impact. But certainly, there is a lot more work to
do. As a department, we are committed to continuing to look for creative ways to safeguard the state’s
natural resources and its natural beauty.”
Besides funding efforts to clean up illegally discarded scrap tires, ADEM has used money from the state
Scrap Tire Fund to promote alternative, beneficial uses of used tires. These include paying for the use of
rubber-modified asphalt to pave roads and parking areas in three State Parks and a St. Clair County road,
as well as the use of recycled tires in playground surfaces and walking tracks.
For more information about ADEM’s Scrap Tire Program, click here.
Media Release/ADEM
