American City & County, Nov 1994 v109 n12 p63(10) Scrappy new programs for tire recycling. (includes related articles) Barry Wise. Brief Summary: Cities have long been pressed to come up with environmentally sound methods for disposing of used auto tires. Many companies are now willing to recycle these tires into a variety of products such as building materials. Old tires can also be retreaded and reused. Full Text: COPYRIGHT Communication Channels Inc. 1994 In 1993 in Inwood, W.Va., a tire pile containing more than two million tires and covering 9 1/2 acres burst into flames. The fire, which was set intentionally, burned 250,000 tires for several days and sent clouds of thick black smoke, visible for 20 miles, into the atmosphere. After the fire was extinguished, dark pools of carbon black amassed on the ground. Associated Tire, the company responsible for the pile, had already pleaded guilty in connection with improperly stockpiling tires, and the state had recently closed down its operation and taken over cleanup of the pile when the fire occurred. Luckily for the residents of Inwood, the environmental damage was not as severe as it could have been. "In terms of long-term environmental impact, there is none," says Brian Farkas, public information officer for the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection. Nevertheless, officials were prompted to speed passage of stringent new scrap tire regulations. "The fact that we had two piles and one went up gave us a little bit of urgency," says Farkas. The state is currently involved in cleaning up the Inwood site and a nearby pile that contains another three million to five million tires. In order to prevent disasters like the Inwood fire, Minnesota officials, in 1984, passed an aggressive legislation package aimed at eliminating scrap tires altogether. The legislation required elimination of all existing tire piles, prevention of new piles, regulation of tire haulers and stockpilers through a permitting process and the development of alternatives to dumping tires. To alleviate pressure on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), which is responsible for the cleanup of all the state's tire piles, a law was passed requiring individual counties to develop methods of collecting and processing their scrap tires. As an incentive to comply, the MPCA provides grants to counties to aid in the cost of cleaning up illegal tire piles or for other tire programs. For example, in 1992, Nobles County, Minn., received a grant to fund the cleanup of seven piles containing 150,000 tires. "We feel that in partnership with the counties and industry, we've solved the tire problem in Minnesota," says Tom Newman, a pollution control specialist for the MPCA. As of last June, all known waste tire piles in the state had been cleaned up. Once when people talked about tire recycling it usually had something to do with tying a thick rope through the middle of an old tire and hanging it from the tallest tree limb. But with 240 million scrap tires -- one per person -- being discarded in the United States every year and two billion to three billion tires already stockpiled, the days of tire swings are long gone, and the search for productive uses of cumbersome scrap tires is on. Tires do not deteriorate quickly or easily, and when they pile up the consequences can be serious. Scrap tire piles litter the landscape, eat up precious landfill space, serve as breeding grounds for disease-infected mosquitoes and are fire hazards that, when ignited, cause severe environmental damage. For these reasons and others, 48 states have enacted legislation regulating the handling of scrap tires. While legislation is one way of approaching the scrap tire problem, many communities are choosing more creative ways of turning troublesome tires into an ecologic and economic advantage by embarking on innovative tire recycling projects. Reuse, Recycle, Retread Retreading, which involves putting new treads on existing tire casings, is one method of tire recycling. Once thought to be unsound, retreading has emerged as cost-efficient and safe. In 1993, retreading is estimated to have saved nearly 33 million tires from North American landfills and stockpiles. Besides preserving rapidly-dwindling landfill space, retreads also conserve oil and money. For example, the production of one new passenger tire consumes about 7 gallons of oil as opposed to the 2.5 gallons needed to make a retread. In addition, retreads typically cost from 30 to 50 cents less than new tires, translating to more than $2 billion in annual savings nationwide. "The cost of a retread is about half the price of a new tire," says Alan Dobrin, chief executive officer of Butler Tire & Retreading, Marietta, Ga. "Cities and counties and government organizations are leaning toward retreading more and more each day." Cost savings are one of the key reasons that many communities have been using retreads on their city and county fleets for years. Cobb Community Transit buses and vans in Cobb County, Ga., have used retreads since 1989. Tires on the 75 Cobb County vehicles are retreaded only twice and are inspected frequently to gauge wear and tear. "We like the cost savings," says Lorenzo Mumphrey, fleet maintenance manager for Cobb Community Transit. "Retreads have come a long way, and, with a good maintenance program, you can run retreads as long as an original rubber tire." In November 1988, recognizing the benefits of retreads, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued procurement guidelines for all federal agencies and state and local agencies that receive federal funds for guideline items, requiring that they give preference to retreads when purchasing replacement tires for their fleets. Although EPA has no enforcement authority, the guidelines were further strengthened in 1993 when President Clinton signed an executive order supporting the guidelines and mandating that all government vehicles use retreaded tires when their purchase is possible. Rubber in the Road But recycling is being seen not only in what is being driven on the road; it is also seen in what is in the road. Section 1038 of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, the item at the center of a legislative controversy, requires agencies to use certain percentages of rubber-modified asphalt (RMA) or lose federal highway funds. But, while many cities, counties and states already use RMA in various applications, legislation mandating amounts has ground to a halt. "We're concerned with building longer-lasting, better-quality roads, and the societal benefit through use of recycled tires is just the cherry on top of the sundae," says Sean Reed, director of public affairs for the Rubber Pavements Association. Supporters of RMA assert that using the product provides a safe and useful way to build better roads while putting a dent in the ever-growing number of scrap tires -- a point that detractors tend to argue. "Section 1038 was sold as a way of reducing the tire stockpile," says George Goggin, director of communications for the National Asphalt Pavement Association. "But that's not really a valid argument. It wouldn't clean out that many tires. There are obviously more uses for tires, and they burn up many more tires than would ever be used in rubber pavement." Voicing everything from environmental to workers' health concerns, a conference committee voted for a year's moratorium to be placed on implementation of Section 1038 so that further research can be done. Despite the ongoing controversy in Washington, many cities and counties have been using rubber-modified asphalt for years. The city of Phoenix, for example, has used it in various applications for 30 years. "It reduces the noise level of the pavement," says Dale Melvin, the street maintenance administrator for Phoenix. "This is a much quieter pavement than chip seal, and reducing the amount of reflective cracking coming through the new overlay is a big benefit. We have had very good success with [rubber modified asphalt!." Phoenix requires that 20 percent of all asphalt binder be rubber, and RMA is being used as the sole modifier on the city's most recent street overlay project. Innovative Solutions Some communities are coming up with other innovative ways to deal with scrap tires. On the coast of New Jersey, where tourism is king, hotels, restaurants and charter boat fisherman rely on the beauty of the beaches and waters to attract millions of visitors every year. In a cooperative effort with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife and the New Jersey Department of Corrections, several coastal counties have found a way to create a better marine habitat while getting rid of tires. In Cape May and Ocean counties, scrap tires are being converted into artificial reef units, that, along with ship wreckage and construction debris, make up a 2.5-mile-long, man-made reef off the coast of New Jersey. In 1993, Cape May County turned more than 60,000 tires into 2,616 reef units. The county's tires are transported from collection sites to the Southern State Correctional Facility where inmates construct the tire reef units. Each unit is made of 25 to 32 tires which have been split in half and piled on top of one another in a triangle shape. Gement is then poured into the middle of the pile to connect the tires and give them enough weight to stay anchored to the ocean floor. (Now, previously-unusable truck tire beads are being used as staples to further secure the units.) Only tires generated in the counties are used in the projects, and they are accepted only from registered dealers at sites designated by county officials. In Cape May County, the cost of recycling tires for use on the reef is $50 per ton as opposed to the $200 per ton it costs to have tires landfilled. Units are taken to a dock site where a barge company transports and dumps them on reef sites designated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The program cost Cape May County $117,140 in 1993. Bridget O'Connor, the county's recycling coordinator, estimates that, since the program's beginning in 1988, 350,000 tires have been rescued from landfill and turned into 17,000 reef units. Despite the fact that some people claim that the reefs are a manmade slaughter ground, attracting fish that are killed in large numbers, environmental officials are seeing an increase in the fish and marine population. "[The reefs] serve as a nursery ground for small fish that can hide in crevices and inside the structures and stay away from attacks by large ocean fish that are cruising the outside," says Bill Figley, reef coordinator for the NJDEP Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife. "They wouldn't have this protection if they were trying to live on the open, bare sand bottom." Members of the Cape May Party and Charter Boat Association are so enthusiastic about the program that they established a small fund to support it. "Ecologically it has created a vast wealth of habitat for fish, lobster, crabs and everything else," says Neil Robbins, owner of Captain Robbins Deep Sea Fishing and a member of the organization. "The reefs have helped things for everybody. It's given more access to boats carrying tourists to get better fishing close to shore. I think that it's the greatest thing that ever happened." Ocean County, the first New Jersey community to use the artificial reefs, has seen equally positive results. The reefs have provided a place for marine organisms to survive and thrive. "We're not here to be the answer for all the tires," says John Haas, Ocean County recycling coordinator. "But we think if we can create, in a reliable way, over a long period of time, quality fish habitat and also get rid of tires, that's a good public purpose." Broward County Gets Rebound From the ocean to soccer fields, recycled rubber is turning up everywhere. In Broward County, Fla., the parks and recreation division is involved in a project funded by a $147,000 grant from the Florida Waste Tire Fund to turn the Brian Piccolo Park soccer fields into a test site for a product called Rebound, developed by American Tire Recyclers, Jacksonville, Fla. Using the soil amendment made from crumb rubber (shredded scrap tires) and compost material, Broward County expects to divert 42,000 tires and 400 tons of compost from landfills while improving the condition of its soccer fields. Ninety-eight percent of Broward County's soil is sand and not conducive to growing the Bermuda grass used on most soccer fields. Rebound, which allows more air space in the soil, is expected to promote a better rooting environment for Bermuda grass, thereby reducing compaction and the amount of water and fertilizer used on the field. The Broward County project will compare results from the Rebound field with those on a control field using traditional soil. According to project coordinator Candace Brewer, "The major benefits of the program to the county are primarily increased wearability, better rooting and increased oxygen in the soil." Rebound is almost double the cost of traditional soil. However, if it performs as predicted, soccer fields that currently have to be resodded every year will last longer, cutting long-term costs. "If [the Rebound field] lasts three years, why replace the soccer field every year?" says Broward County Recycling Program Coordinator Jim Bock. "I can then very easily justify spending double the money to get two, two and a half, three times the use out of the field. "I hope that this works as well as it's laid out on paper and as well as I expect it to," Bock says. "We already have a whole cadre of cities within the county that are looking at doing the same type of project if this stands up as well as it's alleged to." As cities and counties look for new and better ways to reduce the national waste tire stockpile, more innovative ideas are bound to emerge. Already, new projects are on the horizon. Tire-derived fuels are being seriously considered by electric companies and cement kiln operators as an attractive alternative to burning coal. Rubber from waste tires is being turned into everything from playground mats and fenceposts to compost bins. As environmental consciousness increases, so will the demand for decreases in scrap tires and increases in creative options for recycling them. Speaking for all communities that have been successful in putting a dent in the waste tire problem, Cape May's O'Connor says, "The most important thing is that we have found a beneficial use for troublesome waste." MRF Helps Turn Folsom Prison Blues Green The city of Folsom, Calif., has diverted 35 percent of its waste stream from landfills in the first six months of an innovative recycling program that pairs the city with the state Prison Industry Authority (PIA) and other government agencies. By 1994, three years ahead of deadline, Folsom expects to comply with a state mandate that requires 50 percent diversion by 1997. The city is confident that ultimately the facility's diversion target of 70 to 80 percent will be met. The city is currently using PIA's Material Recovery Facility and inmate labor to recycle 35 of every 100 tons of garbage it produces, and that is just the beginning. Plans are now underway to construct a combination of anaerobic digesters and aerobic composters to recycle an additional 35--45 tons of garbage a day. "This program is drawing attention because we are able to achieve high diversion rates at a very economical cost by using inmate labor to do a refined manual sort," says Larry Harrison, head of the PIA waste management division. The program grew out of an earlier partnership between Folsom, the California Department of Corrections and Kitchell, a program management firm in Phoenix, Ariz., that works for the department. In 1988, the company managed the design and construction of a 416-bed minimum/medium security, city-owned Return to Custody (RTC) center to house state parole violators. Once the RTC was completed, Harrison and Folsom's former mayor, Jack Kipp, developed a plan to allow parole violators to get job training and perform useful work for the community. The city's need to meet waste diversion mandates made the recycling program an ideal solution. Phase I included building a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) with an initial capacity of 100 tons daily output of garbage and expansion capacity up to 300 tons for growth over the next 10 years. The facility cost $6 million and took 12 months to build using an inmate construction crew from the RTC center. The PIA made the up-front investment in the facility based on the city's guarantee that it would provide 100 tons of garbage per day at $32 per ton. This exceeded the $25-perton tipping fee at the local landfill, but travel time was cut in half, and no special sorting bins, trucks or additional employees were necessary. Folsom owns the garbage and receives revenues from the recyclables. Currently, the city receives $22,000 per month from the sale of recyclables and has set a goal of $50,000 annually. The proceeds, shared 50-50 with the PIA, will help offset the city's increased tipping fees. "Eventually, as the market increases for recycled products and landfill costs get higher, our rates will look even more attractive," says Harrison. Recycling is still more expensive than landfill dumping, and although Folsom's costs increased 25 percent with the program, most communities pay the same amount to divert 25 percent or less of their waste from landfills. Folsom will eventually be diverting up to 80 percent with no additional cost. Except for the supervising correctional officers -- who are paid by the city -- and surveillance video cameras, the MRF operates similarly to a commercial venture. Aluminum cans, tin, paper, cardboard, glass and plastic are removed from the garbage by inmates on the first sort. Most recycling programs stop there, but at Folsom the bins to go a second line where the paper, cardboard, glass and plastics are re-sorted into specific grades of product to minimize recycle value. The products are then bailed and placed into containers before being weighed, tagged and sold. The city has been able to find a market for almost everything except film and mixed plastic. Inmates are now constructing the anaerobic digesters and aerobic composters. Shredded organic matter mixed with water will be put into the anaerobic digester, mixed with sewage water from the RTC and heated to 170 degrees Fahrenheit. This process will reduce organic material to sludge, water and a methane/carbon gas mixture, which is dried and sold as compost. Phase II of the project will allow the city to divert at least 70 percent of its waste stream, and, in Phase III, the local electric company plans to install a molten carbon fuel cell to convert the methane/carbon gas mixture to hot air, water and electricity. From 100 tons of garbage, Folsom will recycle 35 tons of raw materials, produce 40--50 tons of compost, process 200 tons of sewage water and generate two megawatts of electricity every day. PIA will generate a steady revenue stream and provide worthwhile jobs for inmates. Indianapolis Does More Than Blow Hot Air In the late 1970s the city of Indianapolis was on the verge of a solid waste crisis unless a trash-management plan could be devised. Landfills were closing at an alarming rate, and no new landfills had been opened in central Indiana for 15 years. The remaining local landfill had a limited life of five years. The city formed a solid waste task force, composed of individuals from various organizations interested in finding solutions to this waste management problem. In 1978 the task force steering committee visited resource recovery facilities in Germany and became convinced that mass burn resource recovery technology was the best option for Indianapolis. In 1979 the task force set guidelines and laid the groundwork for the resource recovery project, but a new director of public works had other priorities and forced the project into a holding pattern until 1984. It was then that the task force was expanded, and the process moved forward again. Ogden Martin Systems of Indianapolis was selected by the task force to be the owner and operator of the future Indianapolis Resource Recovery Facility, and construction began in May 1986. The facility, which is capable of processing 2,362 tons of solid waste each day, started commercial operation in December 1988. In addition to Indianapolis, the facility serves Marion County and a combined population of 750,000. For each ton of solid waste combusted, 4,500 pounds of steam are produced and purchased by the local utility company. The steam is used to heat nearly all of the downtown business district as well as Indiana University-Purdue University, and the city receives 90 percent of steam-sales revenue to help offset operating and construction expenses. Plant operation also reduces the city's solid waste volume by 90 percent, thus conserving rapidly-diminishing landfill capacity. In fact, in its first five and a half years of operation, more than 11.5 million cubic yards of landfill space were preserved. With a 20-year operating contract in place, this statistic represents only a fraction of the savings that the facility will achieve over its life span. In August, the facility processed its 4 millionth ton of solid waste. This has resulted in direct savings of fossil fuel because it has offset the need to burn four million barrels of oil or two million tons of coal. "By preserving precious fossil fuels and landfill space and by generating energy, this facility serves as a cornerstone of environmentally-safe and efficient solid waste management within Indianapolis and surrounding Marion County," says Facility Manager Peter Prata. The Indianapolis facility provides a cleaner alternative to traditional means of generating energy. By reducing the utility's need to burn coal, plant operations eliminate substantial quantities of atmospheric emissions. In fact, a study conducted by the Indianapolis Department of Public Works concluded that ambient levels of five air pollutants monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency were signficantly reduced after the facility's first year of operation. For example, sulfur dioxide emissions were reduced 52 percent. In addition, more than 120,000 tons of recyclable ferrous metals have been recovered at the facility, which operates 24 hours every day. Iron and steel are magnetically separated from the ash that remains after the combustion process. This metal is then sold back to steel mills and used to make new steel products. The facility's mass burn combustion system burns waste at temperatures exceeding 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit and reduces it to an inert ash residue. Before leaving the facility, combustion air is directed through technologically advanced air pollution control equipment, including dry flue gas scrubbers and fabric filter baghouses. Facility emissions are strictly regulated by state and federal agencies, as are handling and disposal of combustion ash, which is deposited in a monofill operated by the city. Article A15949206