New life for old tyres

More than two million hazardous used tyres are to be removed from the Riverton City disposal site in St Andrew under a 10-year project, which will eventually extend to other garbage disposal facilities across the island.

Already, more than 8,700 tyres have been taken from the Riverton facility under the National Programme for the Environmentally Sound Management of End-of-Life Pneumatic Tyres, which involves collaboration between the Government and Caribbean Cement Company Limited (CCCL).

The programme, which was piloted from July to September 2019, was fully rolled out on October 1, 2021.

It is aimed at safely disposing of the millions of used tyres generated in the country annually, which will also result in a reduction in costs associated with storing them.

End-of-life tyres are those that could not or were not reused for their originally intended purpose and were not retreaded. These tyres can be utilised as raw materials for co-processing in cement kilns, in asphalt mix for road construction, as well as in the construction of sports grounds, playground surfaces and artificial reefs.

In Jamaica, it is estimated that more than two million used tyres are generated per annum and landfills receive approximately 185,700 tyres per year.

It was in recognition of this environmental and health hazard which led the Government to embark on the national programme for which it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CCCL for the entity to use end-of-life pneumatic tyres in the cement-production process.

Under the arrangement, CCCL will convert used tyres at the landfills into an alternative source of fuel at its Rockfort facility, thereby reducing costs and making a positive impact on the environment.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has said that stored used tyres not only create a myriad of environmental hazards, public health risks, along with other challenges, but they also occupy valuable space when hoarded at landfills.

He noted that the production of cement is a highly intensive, energy-consuming activity, with statistics from the Cement Sustainable Initiative 2002 indicating that it takes approximately 60 to 130 kilograms of fuel oil and 110 kilowatt hours of electricity to produce one tonne of cement.

"As such, it is important that the cement industry identifies ways in which it can substitute fossil fuel for sustainable, alternative energy sources. End-of-life tyres are ideal for use as an alternative fuel in cement production," the prime minister said.