ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF END OF LIFE TYRE (ELT) OR SCRAP TYRE WASTE POLLUTION AND THE NEED FOR SUSTAINABLE WASTE TYRE DISPOSAL AND TRANSFORMATION MECHANISM IN NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
End of Life tyre (ELTs) or scrap tyres are a form of solid wastes emanating from the use and disposal of tyres. ELTs have become the latest menace to the environment the world over, Nigeria inclusive. Heaps of scrap tyres stockpiled or disposed of in landfills and in open dumpsites are common views in Nigeria. ELT wastes cause grave environmental pollution as well as many health problems.
Open burning or landfilling is the primary mode of disposal of ELT waste in Nigeria. These methods of scrap tyre disposal have negative environmental and socio-economic impacts. The aim of this research is to bring to… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
INTRODUCTION
Background to Study
End-of life tyre (ELT) or scrap tyre refers to tyre that has ceased to perform its original function having exhausted all its re-use options. It is a non-reusable tyre in its original form. ELTs are not re-usable as a second-hand purchase. ELTs are a special kind of waste. There are municipal solid wastes rather than hazardous wastes. When it is decided that the used tyre is neither reusable nor re-constructible, it is discarded and the recycling or recovery process begins.
Since the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the environment, environmental sustainability has been a recurrent theme in the face of increasing environmental pollution. Pollution is the introduction of substances into the environment whose by-products in time have harmful or negative effects on the environment. Environmental pollution arises because of man’s activity that directly and indirectly affects the environment.
When a foreign substance is introduced into the environment in a high and unmonitored concentration, it becomes a pollutant and a threat to the environment… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
Statement of the Research Problem
To understand why scrap tyres are environmental hazards, it is important to understand the properties of tyres. A tyre is a rubber covering, pneumatically inflated, and placed around a wheel to provide a flexible cushion and form a soft contact with the road. Tyres are manufactured for use in almost all forms of mechanical vehicles such as passenger cars, bicycles, tricycles, vans, trucks, airplanes, etc.
The materials of modern pneumatic tyres are synthetic rubber, natural rubber, fabric, wire, carbon black and other chemical compounds… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
Research Objectives
The main objective of this research is to review the legal and institutional framework on waste management in as it relates to Heaps of scrap tyres stockpiled or disposed of in landfills and in open dumpsites are common views in Nigeria.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Traditional Methods of Scrap Tyre Disposal
The increasing pollution caused by the increased use of automobiles and other vehicles has become a cause for alarm around the world. However beneficial tyres may be to mobility, scrap tyres negatively affect the environment when improperly disposed of. Below are examples of methods of scrap tyre disposal that negatively affects the environment.
Land-filling/ Stock-piling
Landfilling is one of the most common methods of scrap tyre waste disposal in the world. Yearly, millions of tons of tyre waste go into already overcrowded landfills. Tyres occupy so much land space in landfills due to their large mass. Tyres are basically non-biodegradable because of their complex chemical and physical composition.
Thus, they could take decades to decay and are extremely difficult to compact in landfills because of their buoyancy. Their buoyancy makes them bubble up to the surface of the landfill causing damages to landfill liners installed to prevent leachates from polluting nearby soil, surface and groundwater.
In addition, when there bubble up to the surface, the tyres pose a fire hazard. This is due to the large quantities of petroleum and other hazardous chemicals in tyres… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
End of Life Tyre Waste Situation in Nigeria
The rapid increase in Nigeria’s population growth and income growth has resulted in a corresponding increase in the importation and purchase of all forms of motor vehicles. This change in consumption pattern has caused an increase in the number of scrap tyres generated periodically. The number of scrap tyres in Nigeria increases monthly thereby amounting to the high concentration of this solid waste in environmentally harmful quantity.
It is estimated that thousands of tons of scrap tyres are abandoned in various parts of the country. Many ELTs in Nigeria also end up in the waterways and on the streets. Many are also burned during festivities; as roasting material in abattoirs and in extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals. Tyres have been stock piled around the country for years both legally and illegally in landfills and open dumpsites.
These open dumpsites, which are usually indiscriminately located near residential settlements, causes leachate to contaminate nearby soil, surface and underground water bodies that are relevant to the residents who completely depend on those resources. This situation is aggravated by the absence of a scrap tyre waste collecting system as well as designated specially constructed landfill sites in the country for tyre wastes… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
Framework for Elt Waste Management In Nigeria
Tyres are a worldwide problem when they become waste. This problem associated with ELT waste management is not alien to Nigeria. Each year in Nigeria, new accumulations are added to the already existing heap including the bulk dumped into the creeks, canals, and other waterways that are not accounted for. Sadly, there are no formal records or statistics on the number of ELT waste tyres generated in each state of the Federation.
The Federal, States and Local governments have established various Laws, Regulations, Policies, and bye-laws as the case may be; as well as agencies for waste management but none makes a comprehensive statement on ELT or scrap tyre wastes. The existing ELT waste management in Nigeria is poorly developed and very weak majorly because of lack of general awareness by legislators and the public alike of the negative impact of waste tyres on the environment.
In formulating a sustainable waste tyre management strategy in Nigeria, consideration must be given to the numbers of both locally manufactured (if any) and imported tyres; although, this is made difficult by the absence of formal data on how much of ELT wastes are generated in Nigeria… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
END LIFE TYRE (ELT) WASTE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (U.S.A)
The United States of America boasts of the best waste tyre recycling programmes in the world as 90% of the two billion tyres scattered around the U.S. landscape are now diminished through recycling technologies. In the United States of America, Scrap tyres (tyre waste) are managed primarily at the State level. Eighty percent of U.S. scrap tyre (tyre waste) have been repurposed or recycled.
As a result, 17 states do not have any stockpiles at all, and only two states, that is the states of Colorado and Texas have stockpiled. About 48 states have laws or regulations specifically dealing with the management of scrap tyre (tyre waste). These laws or regulations regulate scrap tyre production, importation, storage, collection, processing, and use.
The United States have played a major role in tackling scrap tyre (tyre waste) waste pollution by regulating the hauling, processing, and storage of scrap tyres; and by working with industry to recycle and beneficially use scrap tyres through developing markets for the collected scrap tyre (tyre waste).
The various states also establish programs to clean up old scrap tyre stockpiles, and the funding needed to accomplish that goal. Each state has its own waste tyre program but some similarities among them include: (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
GREEN TYRE RECYCLING OPTIONS TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE WASTE TYRE DISPOSAL
Tyre recycling is the process of repurposing vehicle tyres that are no longer suitable for use on vehicles due to wear and tear or irreparable damage. The process of tyre recycling involves the collection and separation of tyre waste materials, the preparation of scrap tyres (tyre waste) for re-use, processing, and re-manufacture; and the re-processing, re-manufacture and re-use of these materials.
Since ELTs are difficult to dispose of, they could be converted into potential economically viable and sustainable products instead of being left to constitute an environmental menace. This has spurred research into ways to successfully dispose of or recycle tyres into economically viable and sustainable products. Scrap tyres (tyre waste) are indeed not only an environmental issue, but also as an economic benefit… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusion
This research seeks to reconcile human needs (tyre consumption) with the capacity of the environment to cope with the consequences of economic development in Nigeria. There can be socio-economic development without environmental destruction. The world can enjoy the benefits of tyres (Tyre Waste) without having to destroy the environment for the present and future generations.
There must be a balance between tyre consumption and environmental, social, and economic development. This is the concept of sustainable development. The increasing problems associated with ELTs in Nigeria calls for proactive green or eco-friendly measures to be taken for environmental protection and sustainable development… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
Recommendations
The government should build good quality roads throughout the country for effective use of recycled or retreaded tyres. Transportation infrastructures should be developed to encourage all Nigerians to patronise public transport and reduce the rate of automobile importation.
Thus, the researcher strongly recommends that in addition to a Federal Law on tyre waste disposal and, resource recovery and recycling, all the states of the federation should just as is obtainable in the U.S.A. and Australia, enact Laws and Regulations regulating waste tyre manufacturing, car, and tyre sales, tyre importation, storage, processing, disposal, etc. Integrated policies on tyre waste minimization reuse, recycling, and disposal should be developed… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
(Get the Complete Chapter One To Five Project Material)
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