Vermilion Parish solid waste facility will take tires for recycling every day

Those in Vermilion Parish looking to rid themselves of excess tires can do so every day of the year.

“People think they can only dispose of tires one day a year,” said Ricky LeBlanc of the Vermilion Parish Solid Waste facility. “They think it’s only on that household hazardous day once a year.

“But they can bring it any day.”

Through the parish’s recycling program, Vermilion Parish citizens can each bring up to five tires per day to the solid waste facility at 8550 Birch, located off Hwy. 696. Those dropping off tires will need a valid driver’s license to do so.

“It all has to be documented,” LeBlanc said of the need for identification. “They just bring the tires to us, they fill out a piece of paper and we take care of it.”

The process serves as a better option than throwing tires along the side of the road, according to Keep Abbeville Beautiful’s Charlene Beckett.

“It has been a problem,” Beckett said. “People will usually just dump them in a ditch.

“There is a proper way to do it and people don’t need to be dropping tires in the ditches.”

Abbeville won first place in the state “Cleanest City Contest” earlier this year. Tires in ditches serve as a major mark during judging for the contest.

“When we do a yearly litter index, it is points against us,” Beckett said.

The concern is more than simply for the sake of the contest, though.

“No one wants to see piles of tires on the sides of the road,” Beckett said.

With the recycling program at the solid waste facility, drivers and those living in areas where tires are a problem, could see that problem go away.

“I think it will help if more people know they can bring tires to us every day,” LeBlanc said.