Mexico is stepping up a campaign to clear its mountainous piles of discarded tires, but the main way it is doing so—paying cement manufacturers to burn the scrap tires as fuel—is drawing fire from environmental groups. Discarded tires are a well-established environmental and health threat in Mexico. (See “Mexico explores new ways to use old tires”—EcoAméricas, July ’03.) They take up massive amounts of space in already-overtaxed landfills. And while they’re difficult to ignite, they burn hot and are not easily extinguished, posing a serious fire hazard. Most important, their ability to hold water makes them breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes, thus aiding the spread of malaria, dengue fever and the West Nile virus. There is no updated scrap... [Log in to read more]