Prichard Hosts Free Tire Disposal Event Jan. 20 at Prichard Stadium

Prichard residents will have a free and convenient way to get rid of old tires later this month, as the city prepares to host a one-day tire disposal event at Prichard Stadium. The event is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 20, at the stadium, located at 1 Harold Clarke Ave., and will run from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. City officials are encouraging households across Prichard to take advantage of the opportunity to clear out tires that have been piling up in garages, backyards and vacant lots.

Each Prichard household may drop off up to 10 tires at no charge during the event hours. Organizers stress that the program is open only to residents of the city and their household waste — businesses, commercial haulers and tire retailers cannot participate. The event is intended for tires accumulated from personal use, tires removed from dumping that has occurred on a resident’s own property, and tires that were left behind by previous owners when residents purchased their homes.

Why tire disposal matters in Prichard

Scrap tires are one of the most persistent disposal problems facing older cities along the Gulf Coast, and Prichard is no exception. Tires are bulky, do not compact in a landfill the way household trash does, and are not accepted in most curbside garbage collection. That leaves many residents with few legal options when a set of worn-out tires comes off a personal vehicle, and the result is often tires stacked behind fences or dumped along roadsides and in vacant lots.

The problems created by dumped tires go beyond appearance. When tires collect water, they become productive breeding sites for mosquitoes, which can carry diseases and make neighborhoods miserable during Mobile County’s long warm season. Piles of tires also pose a fire hazard, because tire fires burn hot, are difficult to extinguish and can smolder for days while releasing thick smoke. Clearing tires out of residential areas addresses each of those risks at once.

Illegal dumping has been a recurring complaint in Prichard and neighboring communities, and city crews regularly spend time and money hauling debris out of alleys and empty lots. By inviting residents to bring tires that were dumped on their property, the city is essentially asking the public to help clean up sites that would otherwise cost the Public Works Department labor and disposal fees to clear. The up-to-10-tire limit per household is designed to keep the event manageable while still covering the needs of a typical residential cleanup.

What residents can expect on Jan. 20

Residents who plan to participate should bring their tires to Prichard Stadium during the posted hours, and city staff will direct traffic through the drop-off area. The stadium site, on Harold Clarke Avenue, offers the space needed to stage tires as they arrive and to load them efficiently for transport. Officials have not announced any residency documentation requirement, but participants should be prepared to confirm that the tires come from a Prichard household rather than a business.

Tires from cars, light trucks and similar personal vehicles are the intended material for the event. The restriction on businesses is an important part of the rules: tire shops, landscapers, salvage yards and other commercial operations generate tire volumes far beyond what a residential collection event is designed to handle, and they are expected to use commercial disposal channels. Keeping the event residential helps ensure that capacity is available for the households the program was created to serve.

Where the tires go afterward

Tires collected at events like this one do not simply move from one pile to another. Under state environmental rules administered by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, scrap tires are supposed to be hauled by permitted transporters and delivered to licensed processing or disposal facilities. Once processed, old tires can take on a second life: shredded tires are used as tire-derived fuel by industrial facilities, ground into crumb rubber for playground surfaces and athletic fields, or processed for use in civil engineering applications such as drainage material.

That processing chain is exactly why dumping tires in the woods or a ditch is both illegal and wasteful. Alabama law treats illegal dumping as a criminal offense, and large tire dumps in particular have historically been expensive, multi-year cleanup projects for state and local agencies. A free community event removes the two most common excuses for dumping — cost and inconvenience — by giving residents a legal, local, no-fee option on a single day.

Environmental officials have long noted that convenient disposal events are among the most effective tools for reducing roadside dumping, because many people who dump tires are not chronic violators but residents who simply did not know where to take them. Publicizing the event through city channels gives those residents a clear alternative, and every tire that arrives at the stadium on Jan. 20 is a tire that will not end up in a ditch, a creek bed or a vacant lot in the weeks that follow.

The role of Prichard Public Works

The event is being organized through the city’s Public Works Department, the division responsible for streets, sanitation and property maintenance across the city. Public Works handles many of the behind-the-scenes services residents rely on daily, from garbage and trash collection coordination to clearing debris from public rights-of-way, and cleanup events like this one fall squarely within that mission. Department staff will supervise the drop-off operation and coordinate the eventual hauling of the collected tires.

Residents with questions about the event — including what types of tires qualify, whether tractor or oversized tires are accepted, and how the 10-tire limit will be applied — can contact the Prichard Public Works Department directly at 251-452-7841. Questions may also be sent by email to [email protected], the city’s 311 service address for resident requests and inquiries. Officials recommend reaching out before the event rather than arriving with loads that may not qualify.

City leaders have framed events like this as part of a broader effort to improve the appearance and safety of Prichard’s neighborhoods. Blighted properties and dumped debris are among the most visible signs of disinvestment, and organized cleanups give residents a direct way to fight back. For households that have been staring at a stack of old tires in the backyard — whether left by a previous owner or accumulated over years of personal use — the January event offers a straightforward path to finally getting rid of them at no cost.

How to prepare before drop-off day

Residents planning to participate can make the process smoother with a little advance preparation. Counting tires ahead of time helps confirm that a household is within the 10-tire limit, and loading tires so they can be unloaded quickly keeps the line moving for everyone. Tires should be transported in a truck bed or trailer in a way that secures them against falling out in transit, both for road safety and to avoid creating a new litter problem on the way to the stadium.

Anyone who has more tires than the event allows, or who cannot attend on Jan. 20, can still call Public Works to ask about other disposal options. The department can advise residents on lawful alternatives and on how to report dumping that has already occurred on private or public property. Reporting illegal dump sites matters, because it puts those locations on the city’s radar for cleanup and can help identify repeat dumpers.

The Jan. 20 event runs from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Prichard Stadium, 1 Harold Clarke Ave., and is limited to Prichard households, with a maximum of 10 tires each. Questions can be directed to the Public Works Department at 251-452-7841 or by email at [email protected].

A pattern of cleanup events across Mobile County

Prichard’s tire event fits into a wider pattern of community cleanups across Mobile County, where municipalities and community groups periodically organize collection days for tires, appliances, electronics and other household items that do not fit the normal trash cart. Cities such as Mobile, Saraland and Chickasaw have all used similar events to attack illegal dumping, and keep-Mobile-clean volunteer organizations regularly pair with local government to clear dumping hot spots. The shared lesson from those efforts is that residents respond when disposal is made easy, free and close to home.

For Prichard, a city of roughly 20,000 residents located just north of Mobile along U.S. Highway 43, addressing dumped tires is closely tied to the city’s broader push against blight. Older neighborhoods with vacant lots and abandoned structures are the most common targets for illegal dumpers, and cleanup campaigns are often paired with code enforcement and demolition work. Each tire collected at the stadium represents a small piece of that larger effort to keep residential streets clear and usable.

Residents who miss this event should watch for future announcements, as cities in the area typically repeat tire and bulk-waste collections when demand is high. In the meantime, the fastest way to influence where the next cleanup happens is to report dumping locations to Public Works so crews and event organizers can target the sites residents see every day.