By The Star Staff
The municipal administration of Caguas carried out a massive collection of 4,492 used tires in the town in an effort intended to help prevent environmental and public health problems.
The initiative, which was carried out with the collaboration of Resource Recycling LLC, is composed of several efforts: collection of tires dropped off at Ángel O. Berríos Sports Complex, route collections by municipal brigades and, in addition, direct deliveries by merchants and citizens to the Resource Recycling plant. The number of tires collected equals 118,764 pounds of material.
Caguas Mayor William Miranda Torres noted that “discarded tires are a big problem for the environment and health.”
“Many people are unaware that improper storage of tires in homes, businesses or around communities is also a source of pollution,” he said.
That is because they are toxic in that they are made of synthetic rubber, and are not biodegradable. Likewise, they promote the spread of rodents and mosquitoes that transmit diseases such as dengue and Zika, among others.
“We are in the most active time of the hurricane season. We hope that we will not have any atmospheric events of direct impact on the country,” the mayor added. “However, we must be clear that we can experience events of a lot of rain such as troughs and tropical waves. So this is the ideal time to take the tires out of circulation and dispose of them safely.”