Local firm Island Recycling and its overseas partner Guernsey Recycling, are to shred the tires in the George Town landfill site, and use them as fill in local construction projects.
The contract was signed on Monday 15th August for $1.25 million from the Environmental Protection Fund, after five previous failed bids to sell or give the tires away.
The work is expected to commence within the next four months, once specialized equipment arrives on the island, and is expected to take around 11 months to shred the stockpile of tires.
The Environmental Protection Fund has been criticized in the past for taking far to long to come to a deal involving the tires.
Premier Alden McLaughlin said “The landfill is an issue and has been an issue for the country for many, many years, and while many people believe we are moving far too slowly, we are absolutely committed to developing a long-term plan that creates a solution that will last the course of the next 50 years.”
The tires not only are an eyesore for anyone on the island, but they are also a potential health risk. Used tires are the perfect habitat and breeding ground for Aedes aegypti mosquito, which carry the Zika virus as well as dengue fever and chikungunya.
“One of the things we are very excited about is that this process is entirely in keeping with our objective of reusing and recycling waste products. The tire derived aggregate which will be produced as a result of this process, will be reused for construction over the course of the years to come in local projects” added McLaughlin.
This news comes about a month after a new solid waste management plan had been finalized that will see more recycling, composting and an incinerator to turn waste into electricity for the national power grid.
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