When you consider how many cars there are on the roads, and how often they need their tyres replacing, it is easy to understand that dealing with old car tyres is an extremely important task. The days of tyre fires as seen in The Simpsons are long gone. When you have your tyres replaced, the fitters should take your tyres away for recycling. You may have to pay a small environmental charge, but it’s a small price to pay for not being over run with scrapped tyres.

So what can they be used for? So far tyres are the only product that legally has to be reused or recycled – none are allowed to go into landfill in the UK. A quarter of old tyres are reused as tyres, while another 50% are recycled. The remainder are repurposed:

• Filled with soil they can be used for building walls in place of bricks
• Made into blocks they can surface level crossings or roads
• Broken down into granules, they can be made into playground surfaces or athletic tracks, giving a softer landing in case of falls. Even inside the house they can be used as a carpet underlay.
• Mulching the garden with granulated tyres means never having to replace the bark chips!
• Artificial reefs built out of old tyres are hiding under the sea all around the world.
• Shoe soles, pencil cases, notebook covers – all can be made from recycled car tyres.
• Tyre swings for the children – possibly the purpose that will bring the most enjoyment. How many of us remember swinging on one of these as a child?