Folks in Webster County have a chance to get rid of unwanted waste this week.

In efforts to make the county cleaner and healthier, Webster County has partnered with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to recycle tires that are just sitting around the county.

A big mound of tires might look like a playground to kids, but to Paul Morgan, it looks like a good place to take scrap tires that have accumulated on his farm, many of them thanks to his grandsons.

"They junked out old cars and tires came off them," Morgan said.

Morgan brought in about 50 tires to recycle.

He's not the only person in Webster County to take advantage of the chance to recycle scrap tires for free.

"If we can get rid of them, and they can recycle them, it's a good deal," Webster County Commissioner Denzil Young said.

It can cost landowners two to three dollars to recycle each scrap tire elsewhere.

The good deal also helps with health concerns in the county.

When water builds up in the tires, it attracts mosquitoes and rodents that can spread disease.

"Mosquitoes just, you go out at sundown and they'd eat you up," Morgan said.

Webster County says it often gets calls from folks who see illegally dumped tires on the sides of roads in the county.

"Last call was at Rogersville area, and they had to come from here to Rogersville area to pick up 40-some tires someone had thrown out there at once. That was recently, so it takes several man hours," Young said.

Those man hours that could be used elsewhere in Webster County.

If you live in Webster County, you can drop off tires everyday this week through Friday, November 20 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Webster County Maintenance Shed in Marshfield.

After just a few days of collecting, people have already dropped off more than 3400 tires to the recycling site.

The Department of Natural Resources will pick these tires up, and they'll eventually be reused in things like tire derived fuel, which produces energy at power plants, and on playgrounds.