SCRANTON, Pa. -- If you're tired of staring at the old tires piling up in your backyard or taking up space in your garage, there's a tire recycling program happening right now for Lackawanna County residents.
Illegal dumping of old tires used to be a big problem. However, thanks to tire collection events such as the one happening this week at the Lackawanna County Recycling Center on Boulevard Avenue in Scranton, the area is a lot cleaner than it used to be.
Getting rid of your old tires at this event is easy. Just back your car up to the trailer and someone will help you load them in.
People we spoke with were happy to get the old tires off their hands.
"I have tires that have piled up over the years and I didn't want to just leave them there collecting water and dirt or do anything illegal with them. I wanted to try and do the right thing," said Gregg Betti of Jessup.
When you drop your tires off at the Lackawanna County Recycling Center, they turn your old tires into products like recycled pens.
"It's a reminder that they're bringing home that wow, you know, I took my tire to be recycled but it really is being made into something else," said recycling coordinator Barbara Giovagnoli.
It's more than just pens. Recycled tires are turned into things like mulch, playground mats, and more.
"This is something that has multi uses but one of the things that you would see would be on school track and field. This would be the track," Giovagnoli said.