Environmental Impact of Scrap Tires

People, Planet, Profit

No longer can companies focus on a single bottom line: profits. We MUST consider the triple bottom line: PEOPLE, PLANET, PROFIT.

Tires are scrapped at a rate of 1.1 tire/person/year leading to over 300 million tires scrapped per year. Landfill space is becoming more and more scarce as tires do not biodegrade and have significant negative space.

Fortunately tires are 100% recyclable. The high quality of steel and rubber found in tires are easily reintegrated into the manufacturing process at very minimal or no change to existing manufacturing processes.  Such products using recycled tires have proved to perform better than traditional materials.  The global implications of reducing waste tires are many:  improved socio-economic justice, reducing landfill, reducing carbon footprint and creating a safer society.

Used Tire Hazards

• Tires are a breeding ground for mosquitoes – an ever alarming issue with the rise of the West Nile Virus. Download PDF.
• Tires have potential for tire fires which produce acid smoke harmful to humans and the environment as well as leaves behind a oily residue. Tire fires are not extinguishable and in some instances burn for several weeks.
• Tires take up landfill space and as land is becoming more and more scarce, it will lead towards illegal dumping. This drives down home values and causes socio-economic segregation as tires typically are dumped in low income areas.
• Tires in landfills have led to worker injury and death. With the amount of negative space in tires, as they are compressed with more waste, they have a tendency to rebound to the surface, leading to tires rolling for falling onto workers.

Tire Investment, Recovery And Extension Act Of 2008

And the TIRE Act of 2008 by the House of Representatives

• The majority of rubber used by industry in the U.S. is synthetic rubber that is derived from petroleum.
• The tire industry is the largest consumer of rubber in the U.S., using over 3 billion pounds of rubber annually to produce over 250 million tires.
• Recycled rubber from scrap tires can be used in the production of new tires at loadings exceeding 10% of the weight of rubber in the tire if the particle size of the recycled rubber is extremely fine and the particles are free from impurities such as steel and fiber.
• On average, the U.S. can save a gallon of oil for every tire produced incorporating 10% recycled rubber.
• On average, for every pound of recycled rubber used as an alternative to synthetic rubber, the U.S. will prevent a pound of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere.

California Recycling Tire Act 1989 (Assembly Bill 1843)

The California Recycling Tire Act 1989 (Assembly Bill 1843) established the California Tire Recycling Management Fund. The California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) receives an annual appropriation from this fund to support tire recycling efforts and the use of recycled tire rubber products. Ask your local agencies about grants and rebates available to users of recycled rubber product.