Residents can make tracks to Albany passenger tire amnesty
Albany City Commissioner Jon Howard reported observing these tires this week after he was notified they were piled outside the closed Winn Dixie location in his Ward I on Sylvester Highway.
Special PhotoBy Alan Mauldin
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ALBANY – Tired of those old tires sitting around in the yard or in a shed or maybe in a ditch nearby your house?
If so, Nov. 16 is the day when a third and final tire amnesty will allow Dougherty County residents to rid themselves of the old rubber at no cost.
As an added bonus, those worn-out tires can be repurposed as a variety of products from more tires to basketball courts to mulch.
The third in the series of tire amnesty events is scheduled for 9 a.m.-1 p.m. behind the Albany Civic Center and is open only to residents of Dougherty County.
And if the above listed reasons aren’t enough, Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful reminds residents that old tires can attract some unwanted critters, including mosquitoes and rodents.
“It’s a breeding ground for this,” KADB interim Executive Director LaVerne Levins said. “You have rodents, snakes. It’s a habitat we don’t want because it’s unsafe. If you have an old tires just laying out, it’s unsafe.”
Dougherty County got the opportunity for the three tire events through a $75,000 grant from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. The tires collected will be recycled. Only passenger vehicle tires will be accepted.
“The purpose of this events is educating residents to dispose of tires properly,” Levins said. “When you dispose of tires property, it reduces environmental hazards. It’s not just an eyesore, it’s unhealthy and unsafe for us.”
During the first tire amnesty day held this year, residents dropped off a total of 569 tires, with the second event bringing in an additional 350 tires.
During the most recent tire amnesty day, some residents brought in tires that were not on their own property but were located nearby as a way of making the area more attractive and safer, Levins said.
Individuals also may drop up to five old tires per year off at the Dougherty County landfill, located at 900 Gaissert Road, at no charge. The Civic Center offers a closer site for many residents. An approved vendor removes the tires, so they do not contribute to the volume at the landfill site.
“The good thing is we’re taking something old and making something new,” Levins said. “We’re saving tons of landfill space. It’s environmentally safer.”
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