MES cleans up illegal tire dumps, creating safer, beautiful spaces and reducing negative impacts on the environment.
Through the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), Maryland Environmental Service uses proceeds from the Maryland Scrap Tire Fund to clean-up illegal tire dumps and create demonstration projects using recycled rubber. Since MDE’s Scrap Tire Program began in 1994, MES has worked to clean up 27 sites, removing a total of 3,415,300 tires.
Public School Playground & Athletic Field Improvements
MES and MDE have worked in cooperation with the Maryland State Department of Education to improve school facilities using recycled material. Over the past 10 years, 85 playgrounds, two athletic tracks, and four athletic fields have been improved and made safer while recycling the more than 258,000 tires. The goal is not only to increase the quality of school athletic and play surfaces but also to demonstrate the innovative approaches available for the reuse of scrap tires.
This site is thought to be the largest remaining illegal tire dump in Maryland, contained more than a million tires covering over 15 acres of ravines not far from a stream. The first phase of the cleanup began in 2010; in 2012, after the removal of 1,132,000 tires, the Garner site was restored to pre-dump natural conditions, including restoration of non-tidal wetlands and native trees. Click here to watch a video about the Garner/Brandywine project.
