Do I need paperwork to drop off my own tires?

Not for a few. North Carolina's tire certification form is for haulers, collectors, processors and retailers, and the law exempts loads of five or fewer brought in by anyone else. That lines up with Forsyth County's free allowance, so a homeowner with one old set can drive it over without filling anything out.

Why should a tire hauler be registered?

North Carolina requires anyone hauling scrap tires to register with the state and get a hauling ID number. The hauler also signs a certification form for each load, and copies are kept for three years. Asking for that number is the simplest check that your tires are headed to a processor and not a ditch.

Will the tire shop take my old tires?

Often, when you buy new ones there. Some dealers take the old set back, sometimes for a fee of up to $10 a tire, Angi says. North Carolina also collects a scrap tire disposal tax on every new tire sold, which helps counties pay for disposal. Loose tires with no purchase are harder.

Tire Disposal in Winston-Salem, NC

Per-tire fee: $5 to $15 a tire for recycling in most national guides, added to the pickup.
Rims: one guide lists $10 per tire on a rim and $5 without, beyond the first four.
Free allowance: county residents can drop off 5 tires a year at no charge.
After that: $115.30 a ton for car, truck and trailer tires at the landfill.

Winston-Salem Junk Co. routes tire pickups to one independent hauler and asks the questions that matter for tires: how many, on rims or off, and whether they're stacked in a garage or scattered across a lot. Ask the hauler for their state scrap tire hauling number before the load leaves.

Tire Loads, From a Spare Set to a Backyard Pile

Stack of worn car tires against the cinder-block wall of a garage, a few light-truck tires leaning beside them

Car and light-truck tires

Most calls are the leftovers: the four that came off when the new set went on, the spare that never got used, the snow tires nobody runs anymore. North Carolina's ban covers every whole pneumatic tire, the kind that holds air; solid rubber tires on dollies and carts fall outside it. A handful of tires costs little to dispose of, but they still pay for the hauler's trip, so add them to a bigger pickup when you can.

Four steel wheels with old tires still mounted, lying flat on a driveway beside a jack

Tires still on rims

Wheels add work. Someone has to break the bead to separate the tire from the rim, or the hauler has to find a recycler that will take them mounted. HomeGuide's surcharge doubles for tires on rims: $10 each instead of $5, for anything beyond four tires. Bare rims are scrap metal, so ask whether the quote credits them.

Weathered pile of old tires half hidden in tall grass at the edge of a wooded backyard, some holding rainwater

Old tire piles on a property

Rentals, inherited land and the back of an old shop lot often hold tires that collected for years. Angi notes that scrap tires become homes for mosquitoes and other pests, and standing water in a tire pile is exactly that. These jobs are priced by count and condition: tires full of mud, water or leaves weigh more and take longer to load. Count them if you can, or send photos from a couple of angles. Ask the hauler to tip out the water before loading.

Gloved worker carrying an old wooden kitchen chair down brick porch steps toward a white pickup with another chair in the bed

Why Winston-Salem homeowners call Winston-Salem Junk Co.

Your request goes to a single independent hauler
Hear the all-in figure before anything is carried out
Calling is free; the hauler bills only the job you OK
Mention stairs, a gate code or a hot tub when you call

Tire Disposal Rules in Forsyth County

North Carolina makes each county responsible for its scrap tires and bars whole tires from landfills. In Forsyth County that runs through the Hanes Mill Road site:

Residents' allowance
5 tires per resident per year, free, at Hanes Mill Road only.
Beyond five
$115.30 per ton for passenger car, truck and trailer tires (fiscal 2027 rate).
Heavy equipment tires
$327.24 per ton for off-road tires.
Where they go
The City's solid waste division sends them to a tire recycler under contract.

For anyone hauling tires for pay, the rules tighten. The hauler registers with the state and signs a certification form for every load, and copies of those forms are kept for three years.

What Tire Disposal Costs

National guides price tires as an add-on to a junk pickup rather than a job of their own. Angi puts recycling at $5 to $15 per tire. HireAHelper lists $5 to $15 in one section and $7 to $20 in another. HomeGuide adds nothing for the first four tires. The City's bulky-item pickup refuses tires outright, which is covered on the homepage.

See scrap metal pickup if the rims, a trailer frame or other metal are going too.