Monday, March 1, 2010

Earthquake Rebuilding with Recycled Tire Logs

Don't grind old tires; slice 'em and roll 'em up into rubber logs to use like lumber. From footwear to handbags and earthship homes, recycled tires have found various forms of an afterlife, but that doesn't come close to dealing with the vast numbers of waste tires generated each year. Most "recycling" of tires involves rubber grinding which is a source of pollution and a huge energy guzzler. But designed to be indestructible, tires have a useful after life. So how can millions of discarded Bridgestones and Goodyears help fortify the rebuilding of Haiti, and now earthquake-ravaged Chile?

Tire Logs. Re-Tread Products produces a low-tech version of recycling tires that has several applications. With the advantage of the "bend don't break" flexibility of the material, Tire Logs have proven effective in various civil engineering projects, including earthquake-resistant building, sea walls, highway noise barriers, and sandbag replacements for erosion control. They also eliminate toxins from chemically treated wood that leaches into the water system and without the ineffecient energy that grinding rubber into new materials produces.

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