Atlanta offering free scrap tire disposal in April

Atlanta is offering free scrap tire disposal during April, in an attempt to reduce insect breeding sites.

The next collection is Saturday, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM), located at 1110 Hill Street, S.E.; and from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the parking lot of The Mall West End, located at 850 Oak Street, S.W.

Only car and light duty truck tires will be accepted. No tires with rims will be accepted, and the collection is not open to businesses. Additionally, there is no limit on the number of tires collected by residents and community groups.

This month’s scrap tire collections comes amid growing concern over a possible Zika outbreak in the United States. Zika is spread by the bite of the Aedes aegypti and possibly the Aedes albopictus mosquito. Those species often breed in containers that collect standing water such as scrap tires, public health officials have said.

Atlanta collects an average of 5,000 illegally dumped tires each month through various community partners, said Keep Atlanta Beautiful Executive Director Kanika Greenlee.

“Tires exposed to the elements can hold water and be a breeding space for mosquitoes,” Greenlee said.

Additional scrap tire collections include:

• April 21-22 from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. at Shirley Place and Verbena Street, N.W.

• April 22 at 870 Proctor Street, N.W.

• April 23 at the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials, 1110 Hill Street, S.E.; and at Greenbriar Mall in the parking lot.

• April 28-30 at 2175 James Jackson Parkway, N.W.

• April 30 at the Adamsville Recreation Center, 3201 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive (in the parking lot).