Recycling Tires

There are currently about 3 billion scrap tires in the United States, with more and more being added at an average rate of one waste tire per person per year. Many of these scrap tires end up in landfill, where they take a long time to decompose. They are bulky and take up a lot of landfill space and are also hard to keep buried, as they tend to “float” to the surface.

Tires left unburied or in storage can be a health hazard. They burn easily, and can be a fire danger. They also tend to fill with water and contribute to mosquito breeding.

The best way of dealing with unwanted tires is to recycle them. Tires can be shredded and recycled into new rubber products like shoe soles, mouse pads, hoses, bathroom mats, playground equipment and playing surfaces and even speed-bumps in parking lots. Recycled rubber can also be added to asphalt to make a substance used in road surfaces and construction materials.

Tires can also be incinerated and their energy value recovered. They can partially replace fuels such as coal, in cement kilns and power plants. This must be done with the proper air pollution controls and government permits in place.

When you buy new tires, it is best to leave the old ones with the dealer, to reuse or recycle them. If you have any scrap tires at home, you can contact your local recycling program officer or tire manufacturer to find out where to take them for recycling.

Rubber Manufacturers Association, 2003.
U.S. EPA, 2003

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