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The Madison County Solid Waste and Recycling Department has the responsibility to dispose of waste tires as required under regulations issued by the Department of Environmental Protection. Madison County has applied for and has been identified as an authorized waste tire collection facility and is required to recieve a satisfactory, bi-annual inspection.
On the average, the Solid Waste and Recycling Department spends between $19,000 and $23,000 per year disposing of waste tires. For a brief period of time in the 1990s until the early 2000s, a small grant was dispensed to counties in Florida to offset the cost of the disposal of waste tires. As funding has been reduced in a number of areas, the grant funding for the disposal of waste tires has since been discontinued. During the grant period, citizens were permitted to dispose of four waste tires annually, per family, at no cost, simply by bringing them to the Recycling Center on Rocky Ford Road. Although the grant funding was no longer in existence, the responsibilities of the Solid Waste and Recycling Department to dispose of the waste tires remain intact. The cost for the hauling off and disposal of waste tires by various vendors continued to increase, placing an even greater strain on the Department’s budget. As the Department had to contend with the rising prices, vendors from around the Southeast were sought, in search of the most economical way to haul off and dispose of the waste tires collected in Madison County. The most economical venture through a contracted agreement to haul and dispose of waste tires is $111, per ton, equating to an average of $1,655, per 13 trailer loads, costs the Solid Waste and Recycling Department almost $22,000 yearly. The Department of Environmental Protection also requires all tire servicing centers to dispose of their waste tires through the Solid Waste and Recycling Department. In addition, the tire changing agencies are required to charge each customer a state-mandated waste tire disposal fee for environmental enhancement. As the Solid Waste and Recycling Department provides a service to the tire changing service centers when they dispose of their tires, they are charged the same rate of $111 per ton. Citizens are encouraged to leave their waste tires at the facility providing the service, but oftentimes, citizens choose to retain possession of waste tires with thoughts of future use.
In September 2014, the Board of County Commissioners approved for the Solid Waste and Recycling Department to charge citizens for the disposal of waste tires to help offset the unfunded cost of waste tires disposal. As citizens make the choice to retain possession of their old tires, eventually the waste tires will accumulate at residences. It is a well-known fact that waste tires are one of the largest mosquito breeding domains, and as reported by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other health officials, promote the spread of disease. As citizens make an honest attempt to dispose of waste tires at the Solid Waste and Recycling Center, they are required to pay for them.
As citizens had been accustomed to disposing of waste tires for free, the thought of having to pay for them is not always well received. Rather than comply with a safe disposal process and pay for the disposal of the waste tires, tires have been found discarded in ditches, streams and along roadways that present unsightly appearances. Additionally, choices have been made to burn waste tires, but if reported to, or detected by Department of Environmental Protection, violators could be subjected to a $10,000 fine for air pollution. Waste tires are composed of a certain percentage of petroleum; and as waste tires eventually decompose, they will have an environmental impact on the aquifers and water tables that provide clean and safe drinking water. The cost to dispose of waste tires is minimal compared to the effect of the environmental damage that we will eventually suffer.
The cost to dispose of waste tires does vary, depending upon the size of the tire (s). Further information on cost may be obtained by calling the office of the Solid Waste and Recycling Department at (850) 973-2611, Monday through Thursday from 6:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Madison County is one of the best places to live and raise a family, but the environment that we all appreciate will eventually deteriorate if the wrong choices are made. Please help keep Madison County clean.