Issue Profile Scrap Tire Management
Issue Profile
Scrap Tire Management
Revised: November 1994
contact: phone (207) 287-2651
Background
Since the early days of rubber tire use, tire disposal has been a problem. Americans discard about 240 million tires per year. About 2 billion scrap tires have accumulated in stockpiles across the country. In Maine, about 1.6 million scrap tires are generated annually, and anywhere from 30 million to 60 million discarded tires are currently stockpiled. Maine's largest stockpile contains between 10 and 15 million tires. There are several other stockpiles in Maine thought to contain over a million tires. There are piles of thousands of tires at junkyards, landfills and other places. These illegal tire stockpiles are a blight on the landscape, but more importantly, they are also an environmental, public safety, and health threat. There are no easy, all-encompassing solutions to address the problems associated with illegal tire stockpiles.
Why are tire stockpiles a problem?
The greatest danger posed by a tire stockpile is the possibility of a catastrophic fire occurring. Because of the large quantities of petroleum and other chemicals in tires, a burning tire pile creates thick, black, toxic smoke as well as large discharges of contaminated oil. The contaminated oil can enter surface water or groundwater, causing serious pollution problems. Once a tire pile is burning, the fire is extremely difficult to extinguish. The costs of fire suppression and site cleanup at major tire fires in the United States have exceeded one million dollars.
The shape of a tire allows for easy entrance and containment of rainwater. This creates an ideal breeding habitat for mosquitoes. In addition to the nuisance caused by clouds of mosquitoes generated by scrap tire piles, mosquitoes can carry serious diseases such as eastern equine encephalitis.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Improvements in the design and manufacturing of tires over the past twenty years have greatly increased their service life and significantly reduced the generation of scrap tires (as a function of vehicle miles driven). Americans, however, drive a lot more than they did twenty years ago.
Some discarded tires have remaining service life and are resold as used tires. The reuse of tires through retreading has declined dramatically in recent years. For passenger car tires, the difference in price between retreaded and new tires is relatively small and consumers have opted to buy new tires instead of retreads. There is still a strong economic incentive, however, for retreading truck tires. Virtually all tires that are not defective are retreaded.
Tire recycling has had some success in Maine. Flower planters and floor mats, however, have not eliminated very many of Maine's scrap tires. The greatest scrap tire recycling success in Maine has been the use of shredded tires as a sub-grade road base. There have been three successful experimental projects which recycled scrap tires in this manner, and a large-scale project is currently on the drawing board. The use of scrap tires to produce rubberized asphalt has been evaluated in Maine, but it is uncertain whether it results in extended pavement life. It is also very expensive to process tires into the small crumb particles needed to produce rubberized asphalt. It costs about $300/ton to utilize tires in rubberized asphalt versus $90/ton for utilization as sub-grade road fill.
Energy Recovery
The use of shredded scrap tires for boiler fuel is currently the most effective means of dealing with scrap tires. Two paper mills and one waste-to-energy incinerator in Maine use shredded tires as a supplemental fuel. Their combined utilization of tire-derived fuel (TDF) exceeds 43,000 tons per year (the equivalent of six million tires). In the modern, scrubber-equipped boilers involved, use of TDF has not caused any significant changes in air emissions. However, an increase of metals in the ash, particularly zinc, can be expected. It costs about $100/ton to utilize tires as TDF.
Can I burn my old tires?
No. State and federal air quality regulations prohibit open-burning of scrap tires. This prohibition includes the use of a scrap tire for starting brush fires.
How will existing tire stockpiles be eliminated?
In 1991, a statute establishing a tire stockpile abatement program was enacted. This statute gives DEP the authority to take control of a tire stockpile, clean up the site, and recover costs. To date, however, the DEP has not had funds available for eliminating tire stockpiles. The DEP continues to work with other state agencies and involved parties to identify and facilitate new solutions to this difficult problem.
How do I dispose of scrap tires?
Tire dealers, municipal transfer stations and approved tire collection services will (generally for a fee) take your tires and see they are reused or delivered to a licensed scrap tire processing facility. There are three scrap tire processing facilities operating in Maine. A list of approved tire collection services and scrap tire processing facilities is available from the Division of Solid Waste Facilities Regulation.
How can I get additional information about scrap tire management?
For more information, call the Department's Division of Solid Waste Facilities Regulation at (207) 287-2651, or write:
Department of Environmental Protection
Bureau of Hazardous Materials & Solid Waste Control
State House Station #17
Augusta, ME 04333-0017
