Michigan farmers can fill out a survey from Michigan Farm Bureau detailing how many recyclable ag tires are on their farms.
According to MFB’s Tess Van Gorder, the survey will provide valuable insight that will inform potential recycling solutions.
Farmers can respond to the survey by clicking here until Oct. 15.
“The goal is to quantify those tires out in the countryside because, as with many recycling opportunities for agriculture, it's very much a patchwork system as to what they're able to recycle and to where,” said Van Gorder, associate policy and regulatory specialist in MFB’s Agricultural Ecology Department.
“The survey asks, ‘How many tires do you have? What size are the tires? How far would you be willing to travel to recycle those tires? How much would you be willing to pay per tire to do that?’”
Van Gorder said the survey is anonymous and will gauge the recycling interests of farmers.
“There's a lot of excitement around recycling,” she said, “and it's supported by member-policy in our Resource Recovery policy to identify avenues to reuse and create that sort of circular economy — to recycle and reuse those materials, and not have it go into the landfill.”
Old tires sitting outside retain rainwater and are breeding grounds for mosquitos, leading to the spread of diseases like the West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis.
“We know farmers are making sure they can keep themselves and their families and employees safe,” Van Gorder said. “With diseases going around, getting tires off the farm in a sustainable fashion really has more than one benefit.”
Uses of farm tires include, among other items, anchors for plastic covers on feed storage areas.
To learn more about the survey or if there are questions, contact Van Gorder at [email protected].
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