Most of the rubber refuse comprises used tires. The amount of tire refuse dumped in Israel every year is about 41,000 ton, and it is increasing as the number of vehicles in Israel grows.
The environmental problem
Tire refuse is an environmental nuisance mainly due to its large volume and combustibility. The life cycle of the rubber of which most tires are made can reach up to hundreds and thousands of years. Tire refuse creates more hazards when in touch with the acidic substances discharged by the tires, metals which are absorbed in the soil and pollute the underground water. The incineration of bare tires causes the discharge of polluting substances into the air, and the incineration products remain in the soil causing damage to both fauna and flora. Bare tires become nesting places for vermin and insects which take advantage, among other things, of the water accumulated inside the tires.
Solutions for tire reprocessing
There are several environmental solutions for reprocessing tires and preventing the above mentioned phenomena.
Tires can be renewed and reused.The rubber can be reprocessed for infrastructure and rubber made products.
Tires can be used as combustion material to produce energy for cement plants or other factories.
Old tires can be reprocessed and used to manufacture new tires as well as rubber-made products, such as irrigation pipes.
Tires could be ground into small pieces, even into "crumbs".
Whole tires could be used for engineering projects, such as acoustic insulation and landfill replacements.
Tire crumbs smaller than 100 mm. could serve as drainage layers, to replace aggregates in the infrastructure of light railways.
Rubber powder smaller than 1 mm. in diameter could serve as lining of yards and roofs.