RUBBER COLLECTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25090, 4 December 1942, Page 4

RUBBER COLLECTION

GOOD RESPONSE TO APPEAL QUANTITY INCREASES DAILY Discarded rubber goods of all descriptions are being collected in Otago under the direction of the National Council for the Reclamation of Waste Materials. At the main depot in Dowling street a varied assortment of articles has been gathered, and more arc being received each day. In addition to that at the central store, there are large accumulations at garages, service stations, dairy factories and schools throughout the province awaiting ultimate disposal. , About 1000 motor tyres are included in the collection, and when it is considered that the average discarded tyre cover contains 101 b of rubber, of which six are extracted in the melting process for reuse, it can be estimated that the present collection will yield about three tons of good rubber. This is not taking into account tyres stored at contributing depots, where it is thought there will be many hundreds, if not thousands. Those which are thought suitable for retreading are separated from the articles to be melted down, and arrangements will shortly be in operation for the retreading of those tyres considered fit for the purpose. A Practical Suggestion All tyres are submitted to examination bv members of the vulcanising and tyre industry in Dunedin, and are classified according to their worth. It has been suggested that special arrangements should be made for the purchase of tyres sent in to the depots, which are found not to have been completely worn out. The board in Dunedin has asked that such tyres should be made available to the public through the tyre control authorities. Apart from the vast accumulation of motor tyres, there is a mixed collection of such articles as hot water bottles, rubber shoes and soles, bicycle tyres and tubes, motor tubes, gumboots, garden hose, school erasers, bathing caps, goloshes, and other articles of common use. Crepe rubber soles are considered to be of particular value to the council, as they contain a large concentration of rubber and are easily processed. Hot water bags, and tv re tubes are also of considerable value, as few of them arc mixed with canvas, and so can be processed without difficiilty Speaking to a Daily Times reporter yesterday, Mr J. L, Passmore, chairman ot the executive of the Otago P rovin cial Board for the Reclamation of Waste Materials. said there was some misunderstanding regarding the ultimate use of the collected rubber. Much of it would come back to the people in the form of milking machine accessories, gumboots for farmers and miners, and other essential civilian requirements. On the response of the public to the present appeal would largely depend the availability of such things as hot-water bags for next winter. It was not the immediate intention of the Dunedin committee to hold a special collection day for rubber goods. The present system of consistent collecting was proving satisfactory, and with the continued co-operation of the public it was hoped that all used rubber would be handed in to depots as it became available. Location of Depots Mr Passmore said that depots were to be found In most schools, and the motor trade had arranged for garages and service stations to act as official depots. Dairy factories had also made similar arrangements. Any citizen wishing to contribute to the appeal need only seek his nearest school, garage, or dairy factory, and almost any schoolboy or Boy Scout would be willing to add to his school or group collection. As an instance of the enthusiasm of some school groups, Mr Passmore stated that one suburban school had sent in 64 motor tyres and dozens of pairs of goloshes and gumboots. Almost any article containing rubber would be welcome, Mr Passmore added. Where gumboots or goloshes were contributed. it was requested that they should be grouped, where possible, in pairs, in order to assist vulcanisation if the latter course were practicable. The disadvantage of holding a special appeal day was explained by Mr Passmore. All the collecting and sorting work was done voluntarily, he said, and the holding of a special " drive ” would involve a great amount of time and effort, and many people would be inclined to forget about saving their waste rubber as soon as the “ drive ” was concluded. The Otago executive thought It batter to maintain a steady flow of goods which would enable the voluntary staff to cope with the collections, and which would also keep the matter constantly in the public mind so that each discarded rubber article would be automatically consigned to the nearest depot.