Kuwait began to tackle it's enormous Tire Graveyard

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Image: REUTERS/Stephanie McGehee

Can you imagine what 42 million old vehicle tires dumped somewhere look like? Well, people in Kuwait certainly can. The small "oil Emirate" is not only rich in natural resources but also in environmental problem caused by almost unimaginable amount of used top tires that created the world's largest "tire graveyard".

The problem is not new. It takes some time to gather this amount of waste and concentrate it in one place, but since the graveyard almost reached residential suburbs and started to endanger the residents due to frequent fires and toxic smoke, the Government started to look for solutions.

And the solution is quite simple. A plant run by the EPSCO Global General Trading recycling company is taking old tires and turning them into consumer products. They produce various things but mostly rubbery coloured flooring tiles. The recycling capacity is up to 3 million tires a year so it will take some time to process all 42 million of old tires, but it is a good start.

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