Keep Newnan Beautiful and Coweta County are teaming up to host a Tire Amnesty Day on February 25, 2023. Keep Newnan Beautiful has received grant funding through the GA EPD Land Protection division to host this event for all Coweta County residents. The funding for the Scrap Tire Program and Government Amnesty days comes from the Solid WasteTrust Fund. This funding and the collaboration with Coweta County staff provide the opportunity for residents throughout Coweta County to get rid of any tires that might be lying around in their personal garage or dumped on their property. With the vast amount of land here in Coweta County, many residents have been plagued with the issue of old tires which are a hazard to the environment.
“The biggest issue with discarding old tires is that they contain chemicals and heavy metals that leach into the environment as the tires break down. Leaching affects the soil around the old tire. As tires sit on the ground, the toxins from the tires can seep down into the groundwater. Old tires are hosts to all different types of pests, especially mosquitoes. Mosquitoes pose the biggest risk because they transmit blood-borne diseases to animals and humans. Together Keep Newnan Beautiful and Coweta County were able to remove 54 TONS of junk tires from the environment in 2022. A Tire Amnesty Day is a fabulous opportunity for residents to remove these hazards from their property. Typically, disposing of old tires can be costly – between $6 and $10 per tire to dispose of them at the dump. Having the opportunity to dispose of those same tires for little to no money is a big deal,” said Page Beckwith, Keep Newnan Beautiful Director.
“Removing these tires out of our environment whenever possible is extremely important. We are excited to collaborate with Keep Newnan Beautiful again. We are grateful for the support from the County Commissioners and Staff, which allows us to provide this opportunity to all Coweta County residents for 2023. This year we are adding a limit for tires based on size. Last year there was a large increase in the [the number of ] tractor-trailer tires that were dropped off. Because of their size, it limits the number of tires we can take overall. This year we are limiting tractor-trailer tires to 10 per residential address. We are also limiting the number of passenger car and truck tires to 50 per address. We hope providing some limits will allow more Coweta County residents to participate,” said Tim Shelnutt, Coweta County Code Enforcement.
This year the program will be able to take car and truck tires WITHOUT rims for free.
Large equipment tires will be $25 each.
Passenger tires with rims will cost $5 apiece.
Tractor trailer tires with rims will be $15.
The rim fees are not covered by the grant and are passed down by the processor. Residents can avoid the fees by bringing their tires without the rims.
The Tire Amnesty Day will be Saturday, February 25, 2023, from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon at the Hunter Recreation Complex located at 2970 GA-16, Sharpsburg, Georgia 30277. This will be the only location for the entire county.
For more information or questions about the upcoming Tire Amnesty Day, contact the Keep Newnan Beautiful office at 678-673-5505 or email [email protected]
Follow @keepnewnanbeautiful on Facebook or visit their website www.keepnewnanbeautiful.org for the most current program information.
