How the International Scrap Tire Trade Spreads Mosquitoes and Disease
Localized solutions for scrap tire management can benefit the local economy, environment, and public health.
Mosquitoes are a worldwide bane. In southern India, recent monsoon rains have created ideal conditions for the insects to breed and “rob residents of sleep.” Meanwhile, local government in Miami, Florida, has extended its mosquito spraying program into the winter months in order to prevent dengue fever and flooding in South Australia has prompted officials to take precautions against mosquito-borne Murray Valley encephalitis.
The total elimination of mosquitoes is not a practical goal, but it is certainly possible to mitigate their negative population and negative effects. Draining stagnant water, wearing light-coloured clothing, and covering doors and windows with mosquito mesh are all steps that people can take to protect themselves.
Tire recycling may not appear to have an obvious connection to mosquitoes, but there are in fact well-established links between them. Thus, easy access to comprehensive tire recycling programs is important to reduce the number of disease-spreading mosquitoes and to protect public health.
What are Mosquito-Borne Diseases?
Mosquito-borne diseases are diseases transmitted by mosquitoes when they bite humans. Among the more well-known diseases of this type are malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, West Nile virus, and Zika.
How do Scrap Tires Spread Mosquito-Borne Diseases?
Scrap tires were first observed as mosquito breeding grounds in the mid-1940’s.1 Scientists still do not know the precise reasons why tires are so attractive to these insects, but Paul Reiter of the Pasteur Institute “found that they are ideal incubators for mosquitoes: tires absorb heat, trap rainwater, and nurture bacteria.”
Whenever tires are illegally dumped or improperly stored, they become a potential habitat for mosquitoes. The state of Georgia recommends that people “store [tires] indoors, use enclosed trailers, place tarps on outdoor storage piles, [and] regularly transport tires for recycling.” Yet despite the best efforts of individuals, their efforts do not always eliminate the problem. The international trade in used tires and scrap tires is thriving—and these tires often bring mosquito hitchhikers with them. The arrival of Aedes albopictus in the United States is believed to have occurred in just such a manner. This mosquito, which can transmit dengue as well as other diseases, is not native to the country or even continent, but had found footholds around the US by 1998. Paul Reiter believed that it had arrived in “tires [that] were being imported annually from all over the world to destinations throughout the United States. It appeared likely that the new species had been imported in such tires, perhaps from Japan.”2
Challenges
There are multiple parts to this problem: firstly, that of tires as a breeding ground for mosquitoes on a local level. Secondly, that of the international scrap tire trade. Lastly, the lack of local/domestic options for recycling scrap tires.
Because it is impractical or impossible to eliminate mosquitoes, solutions often focus on eliminating scrap tires as a breeding ground. At a local level, municipalities often host tire collection events, where motorists can dispose of their tires for free or a small fee/donation. These efforts help to ensure that the tires are collected rather than dumped, as well as stored responsibly before they are recycled.
Sometimes, however, responses to scrap tire problems are more reactive than proactive. They may target specific dumping incidents but do little to build a system that would prevent such incidents in the first place. In Malaysia, for example, NGOs have suggested that poor management of waste collection exacerbates dengue outbreaks. While local governments may act promptly once an illegal dumpsite is brought to their attention, these neverending cleanups fail to address the root of the problem: namely, the lack of affordable, easy-access, responsible waste disposal.
Covid-19 lockdowns also highlighted the issues that arise when people lack access to cheap, legal waste disposal. Dumping became something of a pandemic itself in the UK, with not only household garbage but also white goods, mattresses, and tires regularly discovered in nature spots around the country. Given the vast amount of tires dumped in some areas, it was clear that this was the work of unscrupulous commercial actors rather than individual households. Such incidents also make clear the disconnect between laws that require the collection and recycling of scrap tires and the reality in which there are too few options to recycle those tires.
A lack of legislation and legal options frequently prevent jurisdictions from effectively dealing with local scrap tire problems. For example, when officials in Jefferson County, Texas, identified a private property containing 350 000 tires, they were unable to take action: “Getting rid of tires is next to impossible,” said the director of the Jefferson County Mosquito Control District at the time. Similarly, in Victoria, Australia, a lack of clarity around company ownership hindered the state from taking decisive action against a rogue tire collection business in 2017.
Preventing the spread of mosquitoes by limiting the international scrap tire trade is obviously more complicated. Australia has taken steps in this direction by banning the export of whole baled tires, but other countries still ship their scrap tires abroad. A lack of domestic recycling infrastructure means that the further accumulation of tires may be inevitable, at least in the short term. As discussed above, proper storage can mitigate mosquito propagation, but infinite storage is not usually desirable or practical. Hence there is a need to develop local recycling solutions.
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws, which requires manufacturers to take back and dispose of end-of-life products, are gaining popularity around the world. A review of these programs in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy found that “EPR for tyres has been found to reduce flytipping and illegal stockpiling of tyres; increase resource efficiency by increased recycling; and move waste tyre management up the waste hierarchy.” In short, the incentives to properly dispose of scrap tires create a cascade of benefits to the economy and environment.
Tires Can Be Part of the Mosquito Solution
In 2016, Gérard Ulíbarri of Laurentian University in Canada invented a mosquito trap, the so-called ovillanta, made out of scrap tires. These traps are filled with water and an attractant solution (to attract mosquitos). After the female mosquito lays her eggs, the water is filtered and the eggs siphoned off. During a year-long pilot project in Guatemala, the ovillantas “destroyed seven times more mosquitoes than traditional traps…[and] there were no new dengue cases in the area, where normally there would be two or three dozen.”
Given the necessity of filtering the water and replenishing the solution at fixed times, Ulíbarri’s team felt that the ovillantas should ideally be installed in conjunction with community health workers, and as part of wider health services including local outreach and education.
Final Thoughts
Tires are only one of the many facets that must be addressed when seeking to contain mosquito-borne diseases. As Reuters reported in 2016, mosquitoes thrive in “trash-strewn urban landscape[s]” where they can breed in places such as “car tyres, tin cans, dog bowls and cemetery flower vases.” Sanitation is also a major issue, as Gérard Ulíbarri found in Guatemala. Meanwhile in Kenya, Eunice Anyango Owino has suggested that making municipal tap water more readily available may reduce rainwater collection barrels/tanks in which mosquitoes also breed.
A central aspect in the development of scrap tire policy should be Paul Reiter’s discovery that tires imported and exported on the global market contribute to the spread of mosquitoes worldwide. As the World Health Organization points out, dengue fever “has spread to North America and more than 25 countries in the European Region, largely due to the international trade in used tyres.” Long-term, local solutions to deal with scrap tires in their country or even state or province of origin are therefore ideal.
Reiter, Paul and Sprenger, Daniel. “The Used Tire Trade: A Mechanism for the Worldwide Dispersal of Container Breeding Mosquitoes.” Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, Vol. 3, No. 3. September 1987.
Reiter, Paul. “Aedes Albopictus and the World Trade in Used Tires, 1988-1995: The Shape of Things to Come?” Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, Vol. 14, No. 1. January 1998.