Cash for Tires Program
Illegally dumped tires have plagued our neighborhoods for years, aggravating blight, attracting vermin,
hurting the environment, reducing property values, contributing to crime, and harming our quality of life.
That's why I sponsored an ordinance cracking down on unscrupulous tire haulers and dealers who do
"midnight dumping." The ordinance requires tire dealers and haulers to be licensed and registered,
to store them properly, and to keep manifests tracking the handling and disposal of their tires.
Tire haulers wouldn't get paid until after they returned from the tire recycling facility with proof they
delivered all their tires. Tire dealers must slash tires unsafe for reuse so that they or others can't
sell them to unscrupulous dealers. Any business violating these rules could be fined $50 per tire.
The ordinance also created the county's first Tire Redemption Program. Citizens can turn in illegally dumped tires for $1 per tire. This recruits ordinary Memphians to clean up their neighborhood. Opening day this December was a rousing success. Over 56,000 illegally dumped tires were recovered from the streets in four days. Steve went back to the Commission and got additional funding to continue the program. When it resumed this past March, it removed 57,000 illegally dumped tires over a week period. That's over 113,000 illegally dumped tires moved from Memphis streets to the recycling center as a result of Steve's ordinance--at a fraction of the cost for paying county crews to go pick up the tires.
