Recycling Inner Tubes

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
joeegg
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Recycling tyres and tubes.

Post by joeegg »

I am building up a stock of worn tyres and unrepairable tubes. Does anybody know if these can be recycled and where ?
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Recycling tyres and tubes.

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Saw a lot of old tyres outside a cycle shop, you could offer them to one near you, maybe a recycling firm collects them
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Jdsk
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Re: Recycling tyres and tubes.

Post by Jdsk »

i haven't used them but Velorim claim to do this.
https://velorim.co.uk

Please let us know if that works.

Jonathan
Last edited by Jdsk on 26 Apr 2021, 2:03pm, edited 1 time in total.
rjb
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Re: Recycling tyres and tubes.

Post by rjb »

At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840 :D
st599_uk
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Re: Recycling tyres and tubes.

Post by st599_uk »

A charity called "Cycle of Good" will take the tubes. They run a tailoring diploma scheme and community factory in Malawi. The tubes are recycled in to bags, pencil cases etc.

https://www.cycleofgood.com/
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Squibnocket
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Re: Recycling tyres and tubes.

Post by Squibnocket »

joeegg wrote: 25 Apr 2021, 8:27pm I am building up a stock of worn tyres and unrepairable tubes. Does anybody know if these can be recycled and where ?
Try this company

https://www.cycleofgood.com/
simonhill
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Re: Recycling tyres and tubes.

Post by simonhill »

My LBS has to pay to have old tyres taken away, as presumably do all other reputable shops. Can't see them welcoming a donation.

They also pay to have their cardboard bike boxes taken away, hence happy for travellers have them free. Some shops do a deal with someone who wants cardboard for packaging.

As an aside, I was told car etc tyres have a unique code that can identify each one which should stop illegal dumping. Not sure if the authorities ever follow this up.
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horizon
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Re: Recycling tyres and tubes.

Post by horizon »

AIUI bicycle tyres cannot be recycled so unless you can find an alternative use, they have to go to the incinerator. Our local recycling site charges for the recycling of car tyres but doesn't charge for bicycle tyres (which go in the general waste skip).

I personally don't find it too bad a thing if used bicycle tyres are used as a fuel to generate electricty but I suppose you could say that it isn't brilliant.

Inner tubes (which also cannot AFAIK be recycled as such) are a slightly different matter as they can be put to other uses (as I will do later to act as handlebar cushioning under bar tape). Otherwise, again AFAIK, it is into the incinerator.
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horizon
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Re: Recycling tyres and tubes.

Post by horizon »

simonhill wrote: 26 Apr 2021, 1:13pm My LBS has to pay to have old tyres taken away, as presumably do all other reputable shops. Can't see them welcoming a donation.
See Jonathan's post above re Velorim - maybe be OK and cycle shops do take them (presumably with a donation).
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simonhill
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Re: Recycling tyres and tubes.

Post by simonhill »

horizon wrote: 26 Apr 2021, 1:27pm
simonhill wrote: 26 Apr 2021, 1:13pm My LBS has to pay to have old tyres taken away, as presumably do all other reputable shops. Can't see them welcoming a donation.
See Jonathan's post above re Velorim - maybe be OK and cycle shops do take them (presumably with a donation).
Yes when I said "donation" it was meant to be a bit tongue in cheek. I meant not welcome you dumping your old tyres on them. If they are part of the scheme, then hopefully they would be happy to help you out. Certainly worth asking.

I normally only half use my tyres as most of cycling is (was) touring. I would give my old tyres to the bike charity place, but our Council closed it a few years ago.

NB Sorry, I hadn't read all the links, not always so easy to use when on the phone. I wish people would give a brief synopsis rather than just a link.
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mjr
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Re: Recycling tyres and tubes.

Post by mjr »

Bicycle tyres and tubes go in the car tyre bin at larger Norfolk Household Waste Recovery Centres. I understand steel wires get stripped and recycled as metal, while the rubber from better tyres is shredded and either rebound into new products like bouncy flooring, as seen in play areas, or soundproofing inside walls, or much else, while the ropey stuff gets incinerated. https://www.asm-recycling.co.uk/blog/gu ... ycling-uk/

Tyres were banned from landfill more than 10 years ago. Your residual (black, usually) bin may be left unemptied if one is spotted in it.
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: Recycling tyres and tubes.

Post by Cyril Haearn »

In the days before expensive robust tyres, I used to cut the wires out of a worn tyre, take a few centimetres out of the circumference and fit it inside a new tyre. Did not get many punctures after that :wink:

Read about that somewhere, maybe in the Gazette. Did others do the same?
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joeegg
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Re: Recycling tyres and tubes.

Post by joeegg »

Thanks for the replies. I can get somewhere to recycle the inner tubes but not the tyres. Not too far away from me is a council recycling centre so I will pop in and have a word with them.
londonbikerider
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Re: Recycling tyres and tubes.

Post by londonbikerider »

mjr wrote: 26 Apr 2021, 2:44pm Bicycle tyres and tubes go in the car tyre bin at larger Norfolk Household Waste Recovery Centres. I understand steel wires get stripped and recycled as metal, while the rubber from better tyres is shredded and either rebound into new products like bouncy flooring, as seen in play areas, or soundproofing inside walls, or much else, while the ropey stuff gets incinerated. https://www.asm-recycling.co.uk/blog/gu ... ycling-uk/

Tyres were banned from landfill more than 10 years ago. Your residual (black, usually) bin may be left unemptied if one is spotted in it.
I didn't knew about this facility, thanks for sharing. Always used unfixable, due to patch-over-patch limit, inner tubes in place of bungee cords: they're essentially free and readily available.
jo' bo
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Re: Recycling tyres and tubes.

Post by jo' bo »

joeegg wrote: 25 Apr 2021, 8:27pm I am building up a stock of worn tyres and unrepairable tubes. Does anybody know if these can be recycled and where ?
Inner tubes can have a considerable number of uses as large elastic bands, they also make really good patches for patching other inner tubes, but I tend to use them as weight training bands

To be honest I've not come accross many un repairable tubes, if the shops are shut and I need a tube, they tend to get repaired
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