By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Groveland Twp. — The expansion of a scrap tire grant could soon help communities tread much easier on the environment.
Earlier this year Amy Hillman, assistant to the Holly Township supervisor and code enforcer applied for a Scrap Tire Market Development Grant The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). The $15,000 grant will allow Holly, Groveland and Rose townships a location to drop off residents free disposal of passenger car and truck tires at no charge. In Michigan used tires are banned in landfills.
“It’s going to be a great service to our residents to clean up the community,” said Kevin Scramlin, Groveland Township supervisor. “There’s a lot of old tires around the township.”
The drop off sites which will be announced later this spring in each community will include a 40 feet long trailer and be limited to township residents.
It will be the second year for the Scrap Tire grant for Holly, said Hillman who estimated more than 3,000 used tires were collected and property disposed of in 2024.
“It’s a major health and safety for the community,” said Hillman. “We found in the first year of the grant many people hang onto the old tires due to the cost of disposal and many just don’t have a place to take them.”
EGLE officials say through these efforts, the program seeks to improve the scrap tire regulatory landscape with higher rates of compliance, fewer occurrences of illegal tire operations (i.e. illegal hauling and dumping), the creation of more viable markets for tire materials, and the eventual establishment of a tire market based on circular economy principles.
Key in the tire removal are the control of nesting mosquito larvae. Tires can retain water and heat for long periods of time, which accelerates the growth of mosquitoes.