New and innovative solutions for reusing tyres were called for by the Waste and Resources Action Programme this week, as it announced a trial for their use as a bridleway path surface.
WRAP says the ‘race is on’ to find alternatives to landfilling. WRAP launched a competition this week inviting organisations to develop and extend markets for used tyres, with the incentive of 100% grant funding for product trials or full-scale demonstrations.
At the same time, it announced one of the first beneficiaries of the funds, a trial by Scott Wilson and ~Nottinghamshire County Council~ to use tyres as a construction layer in bridleway surfaces instead of asphalt. From next month, there will be a ban on the disposal of shredded tyres, which has prompted fears that illegal fly-tipping will increase. WRAP hopes to finance trials which include civil engineering groundworks, road construction projects and products, landscaping and horticulture, and river and sea defences.
~Steve Waite~ materials project manager (tyres) at WRAP, said: ‘The pressure is on for the UK to find new end markets for used tyres as the deadline of July 2006 gets closer.’ Environmentalists fear a situation could develop similar to the ‘fridge mountains’ of 2001, which followed the UK’s delayed implementation of the ~European Union~ regulation on substances affecting the ozone layer. A spokesman for Greenpeace said: ‘We are aware of the problems faced by individuals in disposing of tyres that have been illegally dumped on their land.’
The partners in the Nottinghamshire trial believe tyres have potential as a shock-absorbing bridleway for equestrians and joggers, while also providing a flat surface preferred by cyclists and wheelchair users. Tyre rubber would be used for rights of way foundations, surface dressing, and in between conventional materials along a 420m stretch in Mansfield. The surface will be monitored every three months to assess the material’s durability, compared with an 80m stretch using conventional recycled materials.
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