NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Starting next year, people in New Orleans can get paid for recycling tires. The incentive program is supposed to discourage people from dumping their tires illegally throughout the city. Despite multiple tire cleanups and even tire fires in New Orleans East, the illegal dumping of them continues to plague the area's neighborhoods. Traffic impacts for Bayou Classic weekend event Staff at the city's sanitation department say they pick up between 30,000 and 50,000 dumped tires a year. On Dwyer Road, a wooden fence separates a pile of tires and the nearby homes.“I see some outside entities coming in our neighborhood, our community where we go to school or we go to work, and just using our community as dumping grounds,” said Sage Michael Pellet, who lives near the site. “When these tires are placed underneath these interstates, underneath state property, there's little local people can do about the issue.” New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno visited one of the dump sites where Interstate 10 east meets Michoud Blvd. She says the city is taking action.“We're moving forward with a new pilot program, which is really an incentive program, so that tires are brought to the City of New Orleans, and hopefully they won't just end up being dumped throughout our neighborhoods."Starting next year, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the New Orleans Sanitation Department will put $250,000 towards the incentive program.“I really think if we put a bounty on those tires, and we've got places where we can collect them, and I think that would go a long way, and it would prevent a lot of the other pilferage that goes on in the city with people looking for ways to make money,” said Joe Threat, the city’s deputy chief administrative officer for infrastructure. Mid-City multi-unit home fire displaces 15 people Some community activists say it's a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to sustain the program.“Spark those community conversations and get that community engagement,” said Gregory Swafford, the founder of Culture of Cleanliness. “I think that we should perform some sort of site inventory of getting a collective understanding of where all these hot spots are, where all this dumping is happening recurrently, and then create a revitalization or reuse plan.” Moreno also says she's having conversations with the state's DEQ leaders about increasing enforcement and cleanup. Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter. Latest Posts 'Major' arrest made in New Orleans drug bust Amazon workers on strike from Black Friday to Cyber Monday Big Game Bound: Payton picks the Week 13 winners Here are the 4 Louisiana constitutional amendments 14 non-profits design gowns for Lakeside Shopping Center this holiday season