Senate Approves Waste Tire Disposal Fee

The State Senate has endorsed an idea that might keep people from disposing of old tires in dumps and ditches. It has advanced a bill reinstating the waste tire fee that expired at the end of last year. Sponsor David Klindt wants to give the natural resources enough money to clean up an estimated three million waste tires. But he also wants to create a proagram that encourages private tire recycling businesses. He says technology is creating new programs that turn waste tires into ingredients for asphalt, or playground covering, or other new uses. Klindt says some of the waste tire fee can be used to encourage development of more of those businesses.