Officials in Connecticut are on the verge of launching a new program they hope will ease the disposal of old, unwanted and tough-to-trash tires. But the initial launch will be limited. Residents in four towns 鈥� Redding, Weston, Newtown and Canton 鈥� will be able to drop off tires at their local transfer station without paying a disposal fee. From there, the tires will be collected and sent to one of five processors in Connecticut and Massachusetts, which will either resell them or find another way to keep them from being dumped in a landfill.
The program represents the nation鈥檚 first stewardship effort being led by tire manufacturers. Major brands that have already signed up to participate in the program include Bridgestone, Continental, Michelin and Goodyear, among others. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of other tire EPR programs globally, and especially across Canada,鈥� said said Jesse Schofield, the executive director of Connecticut Tire Stewardship, a nonprofit organization established by the tire industry to oversee the program.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to learn a lot of our best lessons from those, but unfortunately, they鈥檝e sometimes started up in the 1990s and kind of built on that,鈥� Schofield added. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very much in the infancy of trying to set this up and figure out some of these aspects that work for Connecticut, and the differences that we have.鈥�