Tijuana officials urged to set up tire recycling site

SAN DIEGO ( Border Report ) — The lack of a tire-recycling site in Tijuana means people or auto shops that want to properly dispose of used tires, must take them to a center in the city of Mexicali 120 miles to the east.

Marco Antonio Ramos Vigil, president of the Tire Shop Association says it’s time for the city of Tijuana to build a “badly needed” tire-recycling facility.

Ramos Vigil insists this will greatly reduce operating costs for tire shop owners and help clean up the environment since many tires are discarded into canyons, empty lots or the Tijuana River channel.

A lot of these tires end up washing north of the border during storms.

“It’s with the utmost urgency that we open a place to dispose old tires,” Ramos Vigil said. “The cost to move them to Mexicali is very high, I believe it’s to our advantage to have a center right here in the city.”

He said it costs 25,000 pesos ($1,400) to move 1,500 tires to the center in Mexicali where the tires are broken down.

“It becomes complicated and costly for smaller shops to handle the logistics of moving their tires, even if it’s 80 to 100 at a time,” Ramos Vigil said. “Many are forced to get rid of the used tires in clandestine manners, it’s cheaper than renting the truck or having someone take them.”

He told reporters earlier this week that a site at least 5 acres in size would be required.

“You need space to unload and separate with heavy equipment, we used to have a site operated by the state, but unfortunately they closed it down.

Ramos Vigil said other businesses that use or need the broken-down rubber, would open and flourish around the recycling center.

The city has been non-committal about opening a site, only saying that it’s “considering the idea.”

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