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HANOVER TWP. — These organizers didn’t tire.

Not even after two hours, two packed big rig tractor trailers and the second county-sponsored tire recycling event in as many weeks.

In partnership with the state Department of Environmental Protection, volunteers and organizers with Luzerne County waste management on Saturday loaded trailer after trailer of used tires in the department’s annual collection event at Hanover Area High School.

Beth DeNardi, county recycling coordinator, said the two big rig trucks filled early Saturday morning by volunteers were on their way back from the drop-off point in anticipation of another round trip. Despite a “low” number of registrations, DeNardi expected to fill five or six more trailers and collect approximately 12,000 tires by day’s end.

Not bad for a low year.

“You’re cleaning up the environment, number one,” DeNardi said of the program’s purpose, adding that recycling used tires diminishes the potential spread of the West Nile virus. The virus is transmitted by mosquitoes who breed in pools of water inside discarded tire piles, according to the DEP. Just one such tire can produce over 1,000 mosquitoes.

DeNardi said the event helps address both fronts, doing so at no cost to residents or municipalities.

“You can’t beat free,” she said.

In the program’s 14 years, over 220,000 tires have been collected. All have been 100 percent recycled, broken down and used for rubber base, mulch, crumb rubber for asphalt and other materials.

Denise Troyer, treasurer for recycling partner Mahantango Enterprises, said the company’s facility recycles approximately 10,000 tires daily and as many as 3 million per year. Many of the event’s volunteers are Mahantango employees or relatives, she said.

Despite torrential rain, a similar event last weekend in Butler Township helped collect nearly 4,000 tires.

Funding for the program is provided through a grant from the DEP and the Luzerne County Recycling Sustainability fee.

Elizabeth DeNardi, recycling coordinator for Luzerne County, registers a trailer of old tires arriving at Saturday’s tire recycling collection location behind the Hanover Area Junior/Senior High School in Hanover Township.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_tirerecycling01.jpg.optimal.jpgElizabeth DeNardi, recycling coordinator for Luzerne County, registers a trailer of old tires arriving at Saturday’s tire recycling collection location behind the Hanover Area Junior/Senior High School in Hanover Township. Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader

A truck loaded with old tires from Larksville borough street department arrives at the tire recycling collection location behind the Hanover Area Junior/Senior High School in Hanover Township on Saturday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_tirerecycling02.jpg.optimal.jpgA truck loaded with old tires from Larksville borough street department arrives at the tire recycling collection location behind the Hanover Area Junior/Senior High School in Hanover Township on Saturday. Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader

By Joe Dolinsky

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Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL