GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — If you have old tires hanging around, you can recycle them for free during a special collection event one day next month.

It runs from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12 at Grand Rapids SafeChem at 1045 Wealthy St. SW east of Garfield Avenue in Grand Rapids. You can drop off up to 10 passenger tires for free. Workers will be there to help unload tires.

The tires will be sent off to be recycled into things like playground surfacing material.

Usually, it costs between $4 and $6 per tire to recycle through the Kent County Department of Public Works.

The department says old tires are often dumped illegally because of the cost to dispose of them, but warned they are fire hazards and that mosquitoes will use them to breed.

“Whole tires are notoriously difficult to get rid of because they are not accepted by trash pick-up and cannot be disposed in a landfill unless they are shredded,” DPW spokesperson Steve Faber said. “We encourage Kent County residents to take advantage of this collection event to properly dispose of old tires.”

The last time DPW held a free collection event was in fall 2019.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has a new grant program to help cover the costs of cleaning up and reusing old tires. You can learn more about it on EGLE’s website.