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Scrap Tire Facts & Figures
  • Number of scrap tires generated annually (1996): 

  • 266 million
  • Approximate weight of these scrap tires: 3.3 million tons
  • Tires as percent of total municipal solid waste (1995): 1.8%
  • Number of scrap tires in stock piles: 800 million
  • Number of scrap tires going to a market (1996): 202 million
  • Number of scrap tire processing facilities: 498
  • Number of scrap tires used for fuel (1996): 152.5 million
  • Number of facilities using tire-derived fuel (1996): 102
  • Scrap tires used in civil engineering applications (1996): 10 million
  • Number of scrap tires exported (1996): 15 million
  • Scrap tires processed into ground rubber (1996): 12.5 million
  • Scrap tires punched/stamped into new products (1996): 8 million
  • Number of scrap tires used in a pyrolysis process (1996): 0
  • Number of states with scrap tires legislation/regulations: 48
  • Btu's per pound of scrap tire rubber: 15,000
  • Average weight of a passenger car scrap tire: 20 pounds
  • Number of states that ban whole tires from landfills: 35
  • Number of states that ban all scrap tires from landfills: 8
  • Number of states with no landfill restrictions: 6
  • Number of states with a scrap tire fee: 34
  • States that allow monofills: 4
  • Percentage of scrap tires that are passenger car tires: 84
  • Percentage of scrap tires that are from light and heavy trucks: 15
  • Heavy equipment, aircraft and off-road tires: 1
  • Range of weight for truck tires: 40 pounds to 10,000 pounds
  • Amount of steel in a steel belted radial passenger car tires: 2.5 pounds
  • Oil (equivalency) in a passenger car tire: 7 gallons

  • Best ways to reduce the number of scrap tires generated:
    1. purchase longer-tread life tires 
    2. rotate tires every 4,000 miles 
    3. check for/inflate tires to recommended air pressure levels twice a month 
    4. balance tires when rotating them 
  • Number of passenger car tires to equal one ton: 100
  • Specific gravity of tire rubber: 1.15
  • Number of polymers (rubber) used in tire construction: 3-4
  • Number of new products that contain recycled tire rubber: 110 and counting
  • Fastest growing new markets: playground cover, soil amendments, flooring/matting 
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