Detroit is the tire dumping capital of the world

Among the surprising discoveries I made during my Detroit trip is that many vacant lots, abandoned factories, and forsaken houses have piles of abandoned tires on them.

How do they get there? They're illegally dumped, as the Detroit News explained yesterday.

The economics go like this: State law requires that tire wholesalers charge customers disposal fees when they buy new tires, but they don’t set the price. So big shops charge $3 to $8 per tire. They pay haulers 50 cents to $2.50 per tire to take them away.

Salvageable tires are sold to used shops. Those that can't be resold are supposed to go to Silver Lining or the state’s 20 other recycling centers. That costs haulers money, though, so many simply toss the tires, Marshall said.

“There’s a big incentive to dump what you can’t sell,” he said.

Al Baydoun, service manager of Excel Auto Care on Plymouth near Southfield, said unlicensed crews regularly visit his shop in rented vans, offering to take tires for 25 cents or 50 cents apiece. Baydoun said he refuses the offers because, at those prices, he has no doubt they're illegally dumping tires.

And since Detroit is burdened by miles and miles of urban wasteland--it's an obvious choice for criminals to dispose of old tires.

Besides being a nearly eternal eyesore, the old tires provide breeding spots for disease carrying mosquitoes and they are a fire hazard.

Detroit is the tire dumping capital of the world.