• Old tires have some surprising uses.Close-up of car tire to background image by Ragnarocks from Fotolia.com
  
  Vehicles' tires only last so long before they must be replaced. Rather than simply throwing tires away, there are several uses for them when they are no longer useful on a vehicle. With more awareness of the long-term effects of throwing away materials that can be used for other purposes, organizations and governments are finding new uses for old tires.
  
  

Landfills

• Instead of simply tossing tire shreds into landfills, scientists have found that they can be useful to cover landfills. Timothy Stark, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Krishna Reddy, professor of civil engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago, have found that covering landfills with tire shreds helps with drainage issues that landfills face. If water does not drain efficiently from landfills, there is a risk of groundwater contamination, according to research conducted by Stark and Reddy.
  
  

Tire Fuel

• Tires can be used as a fuel source because of tires' high heating value, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Tire shreds are burned in place of coal and produce 25 percent more energy. Burning tire shreds can even pollute less than burning certain types of coal. Tire fuel is used to produce cement, paper and electricity.
  
  

Rubber Roads

• Tire shreds are being used as an ingredient in asphalt roads. According to Clemson University, asphalt roads with tire shreds in them require less maintenance, last longer and resist the formation of ruts in the road surface. Asphalt roads with tire shreds in them also do not allow cars to skid as far as traditional roads do since the rubber shreds in the road provide more friction against a car's tires.