The Leading Journal for the Tyre Recycling Sector

The Leading Journal for the Tyre Recycling Sector

Kuwait Responds to Tyre Fire News

It has been difficult to ascertain the exact detail of the tyre dumps and tyre fires in Kuwait. However, one thing is clear, there is still a huge tyre disposal issue in the country.

More on Kuwait Tyre Dumps

The largest tyre dump is said to be located in the Arhiya area, five kilometres south of the city of Jahra, the dump is said to have contained 50 million tyres, according to statements by Kuwaiti activist Abdullah Al-Bunyan.

There have been a series of fires at the tyre dumps, and some reports suggest as many as three this year alone – though that needs validating.

According to the Kuwait Times fires at the Arhiya dump go back as far as April 2012, and there have been further fires in November 2019 and October 2020.

The Kuwaiti government is taking various measures to curb the impacts of these dumped tyres. Last March, the General Administration of Customs approved a request for a company to export five million used tyres from the Arhiya site within nine months. It also initiated the establishment of five factories to cut, recycle and export these tyres.

Abdul Karim Taqi, Director-General of the Kuwait Public Authority for Industry, had previously announced that 48 million out of 57 million tyres were cut in Arhiya. The government is also shifting the remaining tyres to the new site in Salmi, designated for collecting damaged and used tyres.

“An area of two million square metres has been allocated for the establishment of tyre recycling plants in Salmi,” Hassan Kamal, a Kuwaiti Municipal Council member, told Anadolu Agency. “The designated site will include about 52 plants to recycle tyres, paper, and plastic.”

However, Hammoud Al-Anzi, head of the Jahra Committee in the Municipal Council, told Turkish-based Anadolu Agency that the efforts made so far do not match “the challenge of the huge number of tyres.” He called on the government to involve community volunteers to dispose of the tyres and invite major transport companies and heavy equipment companies to contribute within the framework of social responsibility to accelerate the pace of the tyre disposal.

Source: Anadolu Agency/ Kuwait Times