The high-speed driving done by sports cars and race cars can wear the tires out quickly. During a NASCAR race, cars may change their tires multiple times. One racing season produces thousands of waste tires with the potential to create environmental hazards. Can these tires be recycled? Continue reading to find out what tire recyclers can do with these tires.

Melanie Musson

Melanie Musson

Melanie Musson is an automotive expert with CarInsuranceComparison.com.

For a wide variety of DIY projects

Burnout tires on sports cars can be recycled. Often, tires that are used specifically for burnouts are retreaded and used again. As long as the tires’ rubber is new and pliable and not cracked, the tires can have new tread applied to them [for use in] future burnouts.

Other than retreading, worn-out burnout tires can be recycled the way any tire can be recycled. Tires can be recycled and used for garden planters, in roadway surfaces, as material for a wide variety of DIY projects, and most commonly, in commercial recycling plants.

Green initiatives to reduce the sport’s carbon footprint

Yes, burnt-out sports car tires are recycled. Companies such as NASCAR, Coca-Cola, and Safety-Kleen have green initiatives to reduce the sport’s carbon footprint. Recycling programs have comprehensive efforts that recycle as much as 140 million used tires each year.

Arnold Chapman

Arnold Chapman

Arnold Chapman, Founder and CEO of an online magazine publisher, ELDFocus.com.

Jake McKenzie

Jake McKenzie

Jake McKenzie is the Content Manager at Auto Accessories Garage, a fast-growing, family-owned online retailer of automotive parts and accessories.

Devulcanization and pyrolysis

In the past, rubber tires were thought to be unrecyclable, but new technologies like devulcanization and pyrolysis have made it possible to break down and recycle the resilient material used in automotive tires.

Before the code was cracked on recycling tires, literally billions of them sat in landfills around the country. One use of recycled tires is fuel. Ground pieces of rubber tires can be combined with wood or coal to form a blended fuel that can power kilns, mills, and boilers. By removing the steel components from tires via high-powered magnets, the remaining rubber can also be ground into mulch.

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