By Monica Ortiz Uribe, KJZZ News for Fronteras
El PASO – Used tire dumps across the U.S./Mexico border threaten the health and safety of binational communities. But recycling efforts have helped minimize the problem.
Nearly a decade ago the Environmental Protection Agency and its Mexican counterpart, SEMARNAT, partnered to reduce the number of tires dumped in Mexican border cities. In 2004, the largest dump site sat in Ciudad Juárez. It totaled nearly 5 million tires. Today it holds less than a million.
Gustavo Nunez works for the Mexican cement company, Cementos de Chihuahua. They help recycle tires.
GUSTAVO NUNEZ: “We’re using one million tires per year as an alternative fuel.”
Similar efforts have also helped cities like Tijuana and Nuevo Laredo. Tire dumps can breed rodent and mosquito populations that spread disease in humans. They are also a dangerous fire hazard.
Mexico’s environmental agency estimates 80% of their used tires come from the United States.
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