US Research Confirms - Tyre Chips are OK for Leachate Collection

US Research on Use of Tyres for Leachate Collection System Confirms UK Experience on the use of chipped tyres for landfill drainage layers. this information is published on the web as a paper in the
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / AUGUST 2006 / 997 .

Landfilling costs and the potential uses of scrap tires have prompted researchers to investigate beneficial reuses. One important application is the use of tire chips as a leachate collection material in municipal solid waste landfills. Laboratory and field studies were conducted to investigate the performance of tire chips as a drainage medium in landfills. The laboratory portion of the program included a series of hydraulic conductivity and compressibility tests.

The data collected from the field test cell suggested that adequate drainage conditions were present within the tire-chip layer, a combustion hazard potential was not present, and
that tire chips can be safely used as part of a landfill leachate collection layer, even though it may not be suitable to place them near drinking water sources. However, it should be noted that measured leachate flow rates, temperatures, and chemical concentrations are valid for the test cell constructed herein, and further analysis should be considered when extending the results to landfills with greater waste heights.

Read the paper here http://www.glue.umd.edu/~aydilek/Tire.pdf .