A volunteer team from Memphis-based Del-Nat Tire Corp. collected 832 used and discarded tires on Saturday, May 11, 2013. The company plans to "transform" the tires into living trees.
For each tire collected, Del-Nat is donating $1 toward the purchase of trees. It has dubbed the clean-up program “Tires for Trees.”
“We feel this is a perfect way for Del-Nat to contribute to our community, helping to beautify our city, and combating a health hazard by eliminating places -- inside discarded tires – where mosquitoes can breed,” says President Jim Mayfield. “You could say we’re completing the cycle, from delivering new tires to properly disposing the used ones.”
Mayfield pointed to a number of studies showing that urban areas with a greater number of trees have fewer instances of crime. Organizations such as the Arbor Day Foundation underscore the positive impact trees have on the environment as well as creating a better quality of life.
The cleanup was done in South Memphis with the cooperation of the Memphis City Beautiful Commission and Shelby County government. The donated trees will be planted during the fall in areas selected by Memphis City Beautiful.
The collected tires will be recycled by Pittsburgh-based Liberty Tire Recycling, one of the largest providers of tire recycling services in the United States. By reclaiming more than 33% of the nation’s discarded tires, Liberty Tire annually transforms more than 110 million tires into raw materials for sustainable products.
Earlier this year, Del-Nat was honored by Recycle Solutions Inc. for its 2012 recycling efforts. Del-Nat helped save the equivalent of 221 trees, 55 cubic yards of landfill space and 91,000 gallons of water through the recycle program of office and warehouse waste at its facility in South Memphis.
With 80 shareholders across the nation, Del-Nat is one of the nation’s leading independent providers of automobile, agriculture and commercial truck tires and tubes. For more information, visit www.delnat.com.
