People are becoming more aware of the need to look after the environment. As part of the current “Go-Green” campaign, many people are advocating for more recycled rubber products. Rubber is a major source of waste that damages the environment if not disposed of properly. Tires in particular make up a good portion of this rubber waste. 250 million tires are discarded every year! Buying products from a recycled rubber manufacturer or simply reusing rubber is one way to decrease overall waste and help create a more eco-friendly environment. The use of eco-friendly rubber is catching on around the world. Here are the specific reasons why having rubber recycled or using products made from recycled rubber is helpful and important.

Rubber as we know it today has been around since the latter half of the 1800s. Ever since then, rubber waste has been accumulating. The interest in recycling rubber waste only began in the late 1960s. Landfill overcrowding and pollution was increasingly becoming a noticeable problem. There were only a handful of recycled rubber manufacturer plants across the nation. Serious research into how to better dispose of discarded rubber began in earnest in the 1970s by numerous companies and agencies. Luckily, their research gave way to the recycling methods we have today.

When rubber is not recycled, a number of problems will arise. Not having rubber recycled can mean disposing of rubber in landfills. For example, most tires are not wanted at landfills because of the space they take up. Rubber tires are not biodegradable; therefore they stay wherever they are dumped. To make matters worse, these old tires produce methane gas in and this can seep out and damage the landfill lining and pollute the surrounding environment. In addition to the harmful levels of methane, a landfill stockpiled with discarded rubber tires can prove to be a breeding ground for insects (http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/tires/basic.htm). Landfills must be managed properly so they do not harm or threaten the environment. Also, not reusing rubber means more production of new rubber, which then leads to more waste piling up in the landfills. Before considering how beneficial products made from recycled rubber are to the environment, consider their cost-effectiveness. Recycled rubber products are much cheaper to make than regular rubber products. Having a recycled rubber manufacturer take used rubber and produce eco-friendly rubber can cost up to half of what natural or synthetic rubber costs. This is because new rubber products undergo a series of chemical processes in order to become a final product. Since recycling involves rubber that has already been made, recycled rubber means easier production and cheaper costs.

There are two main benefits in producing recycled rubber. First, it reduces future waste. There is currently no shortage of material for producing recycled rubber. The materials are lying in the landfills. As mentioned earlier, rubber is not biodegradable. Rubber tires in landfills will not be absorbed by nature. If they are buried, the other biodegradable refuse on top of them will be absorbed by nature, but the tires will still remain. In fact, it has been observed that the buried tires decompress and slowly make their way back to the surface over the period of a few years (http://www.seas.columbia.edu/earth/wtert/sofos/nawtec/Incinerator-and-Solid-Waste-Technology/Incinerator-and-Solid-Waste-Technology-44.pdf). This presents quite a dilemma for landfill operators. The advent of making rubber recycled from discarded tires has provided relief to these operators by helping reduce landfill overcrowding. The more products are made from recycled rubber, the less a landfill will be filled with rubber waste. This is will free up space for biodegradable waste and prevent harmful chemicals and pests from spreading into the environment.

Secondly, it will reduce the harmful use of chemicals to make more rubber. Having rubber recycled takes up less energy than the overall production process of creating new rubber materials. Reclaiming and recycling rubber prevents the use of more chemicals and gets rid of the need for the petroleum products necessary to produce synthetic rubber. Many chemicals and products are put into the production of rubber since rubber is made to be sturdy and to withstand abrasive environments; hence, the difficulty of finding ways to dispose of rubber properly is a prominent problem. Recycling rubber is one of the few ways for a recycled rubber manufacturer to reduce the amount of rubber waste while still being able to make eco-friendly rubber products.

As the demand for more recycled eco-friendly rubber increases, so too will the production of recycled rubber products. As time goes by, there will be a boost of recycled rubber production and a rise in awareness. Rubber will not recycle itself. The help of customers and companies joining in the movement will help reduce toxic waste and make the environment a safer and happier place for future generations.