The Municipality of Villa Mercedes (San Luis) is carrying out a cleaning operation to collect used tires (NFU), with the aim of preventing environmental pollution, avoiding water accumulation, and halting the proliferation of mosquitoes. The tires are deposited at the Municipal Dump, which also receives debris and pruning waste, and then transported to the Cemento Avellaneda plant in La Calera.
The head of the Subsecretariat of Production, Environment, and Technology, Fabricio Mena, explained that on this occasion, 10 tons of tires were collected, equivalent to a 30-cubic-meter container. Before being transported, the metal part is separated from the rubber, as the metal is not used in cement production. Instead, the rubber is used as fuel to reach the high temperatures needed in the co-processing of manufacturing.
A sustainable circle
The initiative is part of a strategic circular economy plan, within the framework of an agreement between the Municipality and the cement company. In addition to the NFU, the program includes the treatment of other waste such as bottles and cardboard, expanding the positive impact on the city’s environmental management.
Residents can bring used tires to the Municipal Dump from Monday to Sunday, from 9 AM to 7 PM, at the intersection of Ferrocarril General San Martín and 89 streets.
Importance of recycling tires
Proper management of NFU is crucial for the environment and public health:
- Environmental and health protection: prevents uncontrolled burning that releases toxic gases, prevents soil and groundwater contamination, and eliminates breeding grounds for mosquitoes and rodents.
- Resource savings: recycling tires reduces oil consumption and saves more than 1,000 liters of water per unit.
- Circular economy: tire components (rubber, steel, fiber) are reused in products like asphalt, park floors, shoe soles, or artificial turf.
- Waste reduction: prevents tires that take up to a thousand years to degrade from occupying landfill space.
- Job creation: promotes jobs in collection, shredding, and transformation.
The Villa Mercedes project demonstrates how a hazardous waste can become a valuable secondary raw material. Reducing the carbon footprint and strengthening the circular economy.
The reuse of tires in the co-processing of cement production is a concrete example of how cities can transform environmental problems into sustainable solutions.
