Discover the World’s Largest Tire Graveyard About to Go Up in Smoke

Human beings are capable of so many wonderful things. However, they have caused a great deal of destruction to the Earth as well. Because we use so many resources, wasted byproducts are inevitable. However, people don’t often think about the massive quantity of these byproducts until they are forced to look at specific examples. One example is tires. If you’ve never heard of a tire graveyard, it’s a place where old, used tires are disposed of. However, these tire graveyards can be quite hazardous to the planet and the people on it. Let’s learn more about the largest tire graveyard you’ve ever heard of!

The Massive Tire Graveyard in Kuwait

Ideally, when tires reach the end of their life, they are recycled. However, in Kuwait, residents dump them into a huge landfill in Sulaibiya, a town near Kuwait City. In fact, tires from other countries end up in this landfill as well.

It contains tires that have been accumulating for more than 20 years. These tires are an enormous source of waste. Additionally, this massive volume of tires does not disintegrate. They also contain many components that are bad for the environment.

Putting tires in landfills is one of the worst ways to dispose of them. First of all, they occupy way too much space. Perhaps even more hazardous is the fact that they are capable of trapping methane gases, which can create serious fire hazards. Outbreaks of fires in these landfills are fairly common.

The Tire Fires in Kuwait

Potential fires are what make tire graveyards so dangerous. The scrap tires themselves are not hazardous. However, when they catch on fire, they break down into hazardous compounds that pollute the air, soil, and water.

In 2021, this particular tire graveyard in Kuwait was the site of a massive fire that burned about 7 million tires out of the approximately 42 million tires that had been dumped there. The smoke was actually visible from satellite photos taken from outer space.

This is not the first time this has happened. A large fire broke out in April 2012, which is what attracted attention to this enormous tire graveyard in the first place. There were also fires in November 2019 and October 2020.

The government of Kuwait is currently taking measures to minimize the fire hazards in this tire graveyard. This includes efforts to export and recycle the tires.

Where Is Sulaibiya Located on a Map?

Sulaibiya is situated in Al Jahra Governorate, Kuwait. The tire graveyard is located in the Arhiya area, which is about four miles south of Jahra. The highest temperature in Asia, of 53.6 degrees C (128.5 degrees F), was recorded in Sulaibiya.

The Hazards of Tire Fires

Tire fires are quite hazardous, and they have a variety of deleterious effects. The best method of control is prevention, as once a tire fire has started, it is very difficult to extinguish.

Public Health Effects

A tire fire releases all sorts of noxious chemicals into the air. Not only are these unpleasant for people nearby, but they can also be dangerous. Emissions from these fires include carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and volatile organic compounds.

The list of pollutants is quite lengthy. Other hazardous gases released include hydrogen chloride, dioxins, furans, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, benzene, and multiple metals.

If people come into contact with these compounds, they can experience adverse health effects in both the short and long term. These health effects include irritation of the eyes, mucous membranes, and skin, in addition to central nervous system depression, respiratory effects, and cancer. The EPA strongly advises against any unprotected exposure to these emissions.

Uncontrolled burning of tires is 16 times more likely to induce genetic mutations than traditional burning of wood in a fireplace. It’s a whopping 13,000 times more mutagenic than controlled coal fire utility emissions.

The fact that Kuwait’s tremendous tire graveyard is fairly close to a community of people is particularly concerning. These people are all subjected to the air pollutants every fire in this graveyard releases. Particularly vulnerable are children, nursing babies, elderly people, people with asthma, and immunosuppressed people.

Environmental Effects

There are many costs to the environment when a tire fire occurs. These come in the forms of air pollution, soil pollution, and water pollution.

The black fumes that tire fires release contain harmful pollutants, including heavy metals, that stay in the air. The people who breathe this air can experience chronic health problems as a result, with some being fatal.

Soil and water pollution are also significant consequences of these fires. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, every million tires that burn can lead to about 55,000 gallons of runoff oil. The liquid oils that penetrate the soil will immediately pollute it.

In addition, gradual pollution can happen via leaching when rainfall pulls unburned residues or ashes into the ground.

If no one contains the runoff oil, it can move to local water sources and contaminate them. In a fire the size of the Kuwait tire graveyard fire, this runoff can even get into the ocean and quickly spread to the waters of other parts of the world.

Alternative Ways to Dispose of Tires

As an alternative to dumping tires in landfills, people can recycle them. In some cases, particularly if the tires are in good condition, professionals can remold the tires themselves and put them back into vehicles. They can also repurpose the tires into flood defense structures. Additionally, tires can be recycled as carpet underlay, flooring, fuel for cement kilns, equestrian arenas, running tracks, and children’s playgrounds.

Sometimes people burn these tires to harvest fuel, and it’s understandable why they do so. Tires make a great substitute for coal, as the sulfur content is similar to that of coal, and the calorific value (energy) is higher than that of coal. However, the adverse consequences far outweigh these benefits.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Memorystockphoto/iStock via Getty Images