Free tire dropoff planned at Joplin Recycling Center

(From the City of Joplin)

There will be a FREE tire drop-off event on Friday, May 13 and Saturday, May 14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Joplin Recycling Center, 1310 West A Street. Automotive passenger tires, with or without rims will be accepted from Joplin residents, Joplin residential landlords, and Empire District Electric Company residential customers. Up to ten tires per household will be accepted. Commercial, large truck or racecar tires will not be accepted. If a commercial tire business needs help contracting with a tire disposal company, they should contact Mary Anne Phillips, Joplin Recycling Coordinator (417) 624-0820 Extension 501.

This free event is funded by Empire District Electric Company and the City of Joplin as a community service. The tires will be hauled to a processor for chipping, then sent to Empire’s Asbury, Missouri power plant and used as fuel to make electricity. Since 2002 Empire has used this environmentally responsible process, also called TDF (tire-derived fuel) to dispose of the equivalent of over 5 million passenger tires. TDF however is a very small percentage of the plant’s total fuel (about 1%). The cost of TDF is comparable to the cost of coal.

Throughout the year, the center accepts cardboard, fiberboard, magazines, books, office paper, newspapers, telephone books, plastic #1 and #2 bottles with necks, all colors of container glass, metal, packing peanuts, clean bubble wrap, #2 and #4 plastic shopping bags, cooking oil, and all batteries. Computers, televisions and all electronic waste, except large photocopiers, can also be dropped off all year at no charge. However there is a $7 recycling fee for every Analog or CRT type television. The recycling center is open to everyone, regardless of residency.

Limited household hazardous waste (HHW) is accepted from residents of McDonald, Newton, Jasper, Barton and Vernon Counties. This HHW service is funded by Region M Solid Waste Management District, the Department of Natural Resources, and the City of Joplin. Business hazardous waste is never accepted.

Packing materials, used books and magazines, and a self-serve paper shredder are available for free at the Recycling Center.

For more information, contact Mary Anne Phillips, City of Joplin Recycling Coordinator at 417-624-0820 Extension 501, or the City’s web site at www.joplinmo.org/recycling.