The Walker County Landfill played host to another succesful Retire Your Tires Amnesty Day event this month. On November 8th, residents could drop off their old, unwanted tires at the landfill or a satellite location in Rossville for free.

The landfill collected 3,100 tires and Rossville collected 255 tires, for a total of 3,355 tires for the event. The number collected was slightly down again for the second straight year, which is seen as a positive, pointing to less stray tires in the community.

Since 2017, Walker County residents have disposed of 33,443 old car and light truck tires during amnesty events. Those rubbery remains are sent to an approved recycling center and turned into things like industrial fuel or rubber mulch for landscaping and playground applications.

The Retire Your Tires Amnesty Day event is made possible thanks to a grant from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s Local Government Scrap Tire Abatement Reimbursement (STAR) Program. This grant reimburses Walker County for the cost of transporting and processing scrap tires. The grant is funded from Georgia’s Solid Waste Trust Fund, which consumers pay into when purchasing new tires in Georgia.