What Is Big Bears Recycling, Inc. About
Pollution does not discriminate based upon age, gender, race, or economic class. Everyone is affected. Everybody is equal in this equation, and recycling is a recession proof business. The waste tire epidemic is not just your neighbor’s problem, this effects each and everyone equally and this will have a lasting impact on the entire globe. There are tires on every moving machine that transports people from here to there, except trains, and they have many parts that are rubber to protect the riders from electrical shock. Waiting is not a solution; Rubber Waste is already a $25 trillion problem. As one can see from the images above, rubber comes in many forms and for many uses, as these are just a few you would recognize without explanation. Act today to help put the solution in motion, before the motion overpowers the solution.
Big Bears Recycling, Inc. is all about helping others. Whether we are improving the environment by cleaning up a tire pile or hiring people without college degrees and offering them a living wage with benefits, or whether we are spending money in our local communities to support programs that effect people in a positive and empowering ways. Big Bears Recycling, Inc. is a sustainable, socially and environmentally responsible company.
Being headquartered in Tennessee, we are strategically located within 8 hours of over 75% of the US population.
"Far And Away The Best Prize Life Has To Offer Is The Chance To Work Hard At Work Worth Doing" Theodore Roosevelt
Environmental Problem
Anytime tire waste accumulates, it destroys the healthy existing eco systems and replaces them with a deadly ecological system. The environmental risks of tire waste lies with their chemical makeup. Toxins released from the decomposition, incineration, or accidental fires can pollute water, air, and soil. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, tires contain benzene, mercury, styrene-butadiene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and arsenic. They also contain heavy metals like lead and additional carcinogens. When tires are heated up, like when they sit in the hot sun all day, these gases are released from tires and contaminate our air, water, and soils.
Fire Risk is the second largest risk for waste tires, and leads to environmental pollution, as well as, health risks for humans. A Tire fire is broken down into two types of events. 1. fast-burning; 2. slow-burning pyrolysis. In the event of fast-burning fires, control of the fire is almost always lost immediately. Fast-burning fires create risk to their surroundings, resulting in the fire spreading and possible destroying population centers. Slow-burning pyrolysis is very dangerous. Pyrolysis is a method of burning in which oxygen is often not present. This makes it incredibly difficult to extinguish and releases a significant number of toxins into the environment.
A third, but equally deadly, ecological danger is pests. Tires can collect water, Mosquitos, and other pests, use those tire swimming pools as opportunities to breed. This allows vector borne diseases, like West Nile Virus, Yellow Fever, Zika Virus, Malaria, and Encephalitis. Every year, there are over 1 billion cases of vector-borne diseases and over 1 million deaths. They account for 17% of all infectious diseases.
Some Notable Tire Fires since 2012.
· 2012 – On January 27, 2012, a massive tire fire sparked at a tire recycling plant in Lockport, New York, causing dangerous amounts of soot and smoke to burn over the city for over 22 hours, causing serious damage to many homes.
· 2012 – In Jahra, Kuwait, a five million tire fire erupted on April 16, 2012. The fire was thought to be started deliberately by scrap metal hawkers looking to recover scrap metal.
· 2012 – In Iowa City, Iowa, at approximately 6:45 p.m. on May 26, 2012, a fire started in the ground tire bedding material at the Iowa City Landfill, involving at least 7.5 acres of landfill. It was finally extinguished on June 12, 2012, after a "stir, burn and cover" operation.
· 2013 – Tire fire ignited in Nassau, Bahamas. The poorly managed municipal dump has had multiple fires and finally resulted in a tire fire on August 13.
· 2014 – Tire fire ignited in Savannah, Georgia on February 8, 2014.
· 2015 – On August 18, in northwest Oklahoma, a tire fire in a large pile of tires next to the premises of A&T Tire and Wheel set the exterior of the business ablaze, but crews prevented flames from getting inside.
· 2016 – On May 13, in Seseña, Spain, a fire started in a tire dump containing around 5 million tires and displacing 6000 residents.
· 2016 – On August 10, a tire fire sparked at Liberty Tire Recycling in Lockport, New York. Over 8 million pounds of crumb rubber ignited, destroying 4 buildings and evacuating over 400 families from nearby homes.
· 2017 – On January 17, a tire fire started at Federal Corporation Zhongli Factory in Taoyuan, Taiwan. More than 50,000 square meters of the factor was on fire and over 140 families were evacuated from nearby homes. The area was heavily contaminated with carbon Black.
· 2017 – On Sunday March 5 at 10:58 p.m., firefighters responded to a fire at the EnTire Recycling facility in Phelps City, MO. Heavy smoke caused intermittent closure of Highway 136 and officials to advise nearby residents to avoid breathing the smoke, which could be seen over 10 miles away. This fire continued to smolder through August 2017.
· 2017- On Thursday July 27 at 4 p.m. A grass fire started at the Yellow Belly Drag Strip in Dallas, and in the process set off a two alarm fire in a pile of tires numbering over 7500. The fire burned for several hours and could be seen for many miles.
· 2017- On August 6 at 9:00 a.m. Hundreds of tires caught fire at Hloznik Auto Salvage on Clarks Pike Road near Route 28 in Tarentum on Sunday morning firefighters said, and county officials said three people were injured.
· 2018- On February 18, A large plume of black smoke rolled over New Orleans early Sunday evening as a tire fire blazed in the 6200 block of Chef Menteur Highway.
· 2018- On March 12, A scrapyard tire fire at Northeast 75th Avenue and Killingsworth Street sent plumes of black, carbon monoxide and cyanide-laden smoke into Northeast Portland.
· 2018- On March 19, COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Burning tires and trash are keeping a few residents from going home after a wildfire started on Fort Carson and spread across the post boundary, destroying three homes and several vehicles. The ongoing tire fire in the Midway Ranches area has prompted El Paso County, Colorado, officials to cancel Tuesday classes at a nearby elementary school and warn residents of possible health effects from the smoke. The only remaining flames from the Carson-Midway fire are burning in 100,000 tires in Midway Ranch. A property's perimeter made up of entwined recyclable tires caught flame Friday night, It could be weeks before the fire is out, but that's sending toxic smoke into the air toward homes.
· 2018- On March 21 at 4:30 p.m. EUREKA- Humboldt Bay Fire fighters quickly responded to a tire fire Wednesday afternoon at the old Jacobs Education Center in Eureka.
· 2018- On April 12, A fire that started in a Lima, Peru, tire shop known as Intercaucho Colors, sent dark black billows of toxic smoke into the city’s air Thursday morning. It took over 7 hours for firefighters to get the blaze under control.
· 2018- On April 22 at 3:55 p.m. A tire fire near downtown Omaha sent a thick dark plume of smoke skyward Sunday and left large parts of the town with a slightly acrid, hazy feel.