ELI students, Virginia Such and Sophia Long, are featured in The Current for launching TREAD, a bicycle tire recycling program at the UCSB Associated Students Bike Shop.
TREAD, or Tire Recovery Education and Diversion, is a new recycling program started through the Environmental Leadership Incubator. The project has the primary goal of establishing a sustainable, long-term system to divert bike tires from landfills while raising awareness of responsible bike tire care on UCSB’s campus. Because of the high bike traffic on UCSB’s campus, with over 50% of the student body commuting by bike, TREAD recognized a gap in the sustainable diversion of bike tires and aims to bridge this gap through an ongoing recycling program with the Associated Students Bike Shop and Liberty Tire Recycling. In addition, the initiative is designed to be scalable, with the potential to expand to other universities across the United States that generate similar bike tire waste streams. Currently, TREAD is in conversation with dozens of colleges about bringing a similar recycling initiative to their campuses.
TREAD allows the Associated Students bike shop to package old bike tires in wheel and bike boxes, which are then picked up by Liberty Tire Recycling and sent to the nearest tire recycling facility to be shredded. Liberty Tire Recycling has facilities across the United States and recycles tires from local bike shops and big corporations for a small fee. Before TREAD, the on-campus bike shop was throwing out bike tires and tubes which ended up in landfills, leaching harmful toxins and microplastics into our air and water. Now at Liberty Tire Recycling facilities, the bike tires are recycled into reusable crumb rubber for athletic tracks and playgrounds and into tire-derived fuel, promoting a circular economy.
So far through TREAD, the AS bike shop has completed one round of bike tire pickups, diverting over 80 tires from landfills, and continues to package up more tires for recycling. Bike Shop manager Adam Jahnke wants to continue the program for years to come to ensure UCSB is doing its part in reducing bike tire waste and promoting sustainability on the campus. The bicycle has long been an icon of UCSB, but through TREAD’s work, it’s no longer just a symbol. It has become a commitment that reflects the true, enduring meaning of sustainability.
Check out this recently published article in The Current to learn more about this project.