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Situation Overview

1990
In 1990, it was estimated that 2-3 billion scrap tires were stockpiled in the U.S. and about 188 million scrap tires were being generated annually. Many unsightly stockpiles had been created around the country. As mentioned previously, these stockpiles were associated with environmental problems and the uncontrolled situation of waste tire management captured nation wide interest. The public demands for legislation concerning waste tire management and the development of waste tire recovery technology became stronger.

Scrap Tire Legislation1)
By the end of 1990, 12 states had newly passed or had revised scrap tire laws, regulations or amendments. Thirty-three states already had scrap tire laws and regulations in effect and 24 states regulated or had bills proposed (or in draft form) to regulate tires. Nineteen states passed landfill restrictions for tire disposal and  the majority of states had imposed regulations requiring tires to be processed prior to landfilling. Several states had considered legislation that would ban all whole tires from landfills. Minnesota had already banned all tires from landfills. In other states, due to the very high processing costs, whole tires were effectively banned from landfills. Florida and Oregon required that tires be reduced in volume by methods such as slicing or shredding. Eighteen states had passed legislation to develop scrap tire market incentives.

Recycling Technology1)
Despite the increasing public pressure and restrictions, landfilling of chipped tires was the cheapest legal method for scrap tire disposal. There were no economically feasible technologies to utilize scrap tires in 1990. Several studies indicated that only tire-derived fuel had reasonable potential of economic feasibility, if problems regarding capital cost and pollution control could be resolved.

Waste Tires in The Municipal Solid Waste Stream (1990)3)
See section of 1998.

NOTE : The statistics regarding municipal solid waste (MSW) do not include energy recovery (or tire-derived fuel in this report), even though energy recovery is the most promising technology for waste tire recycling. There are no consistent definitions of "recovery" and "reuse" in the technical literature. In this report "recover" and "recycle" include energy recovery.
1998
In 1998, the recovery (or reuse) rate for tires was 60.2%. Stockpiles had decreased to 500 million. It had been estimated that, by the end of 1999, the recovery rate for scrap tires would reach 95%4), including the export of scrap tires. Therefore, at the end of the decade the recovery of scrap tires had shown signs of regression despite the progress made in reducing stockpiles.

Scrap Tire Legislation2)
In 1998, 48 states had adopted scrap tire legislation and regulations, and 34 states charged a tire disposal fee to regulate scrap tires. Thirty-five states had banned whole tire landfilling, and eight states had banned any scrap tire landfilling. Only six states did not have any landfill restrictions on tire disposal.

 
1990 (Number of States) 1996 (Number of States) 1998 (Number of States)
Scrap Tires Legislation/Regulation 
33
48
48
Ban Whole Scrap Tire Landfilling
19*
35
35
Ban Any Scrap Tire Landfilling
1
6
8
Charge Tire Disposal Fee
24
34
30
*Number of states passed landfill restrictions, not ban.
See also States Solid Waste Facts (in EPA Web Site)
Each state had funded a scrap tire management program to reduce stockpiles. The following are prominent examples from various state waste tire management programs.


Recycling Technology
By the end of the 1990s, tire stockpiles had been successfully reduced. From an economic perspective, the most attractive tire recycling option is tire-derived fuel. However, the stability and future progress with regard to tire-derived fuel is an important consideration.
To date, the economic viability of energy recovery has been sustained by the market incentives and funding provided by various government programs. Without such support, tire derived fuel would not be competitive with other fuel alternatives at this time. Concerns have also been raised with regard to the environmental health and safety of tire-to-energy facilities. Studies have shown that the pollution levels generated by tire combustion facilities are within permitted levels.

Waste Tire in The Municipal Solid Waste Stream in 19963),5)
The generation of tires in the MSW stream has shown relatively slow growth over the years. One reason for this relatively slow rate of growth is that tires have been made lighter and longer-wearing than in earlier years. The recovery rate (not including  recovery and export) has also shown relatively slow growth compared to other MSW materials. Economic feasibility has been a very important aspect for the recovery of materials at a high recovery rate.
The tire recovery rate has not experienced quick growth, because rubber is vulcanized and cannot be thermally re-processed. Unlike the other highly-recovered materials, the recovery of tires is mainly to convert the scrap tires into other products or other forms, and not for the production of new tires. These rubber-recycled materials do not have high added value compared to the original material. Since the price of virgin rubber is relatively low, the recovered material can not compete economically without some incentive.
If high added value products could be made from scrap tires, the recycling rate could reach a very high level. Several studies concerning the recovery of high added value products from scrap tires have been examined, and are discussed in subsequent chapters.
 

The Municipal Waste Stream

 
1990 1996
*1000 ton
%
 *1000 ton
%
Materials
    Paper and Paperboard
72730
35.4
79930
38.1
    Glass
13100
6.4
12350
5.9
    Metals
        Ferrous
12640
6.2
11830
5.6
        Aluminum
2810
1.4
2980
1.4
        Other Nonferrous
1100
0.5
1260
0.6
    Total Metals
16550
8.1
16070
7.7
    Plastics
17130
8.3
19760
9.4
    Rubber and Leather
        Tires
2970
1.4
3170
1.5
    Total Rubber & Leather
5790
2.8
6200
3.0
    Textiles
5810
2.8
7720
3.7
    Wood
12210
6.0
10840
5.2
    Other
3190
1.6
3690
1.8
Total Materials in Products
146510
71.4
156560
74.7
Other Wastes
    Food Wastes
20800
10.1
21900
10.4
    Yard Waste
35000
17.1
28000
13.4
    Miscellaneous Inorganic Wastes
2900
1.4
3200
1.5
Total Other Wastes
58700
28.6
53100
25.3
Total MSW Generated
205210
100.0
209660
100


Recovery of Municipal Solid Waste

 
1990 1996
*1000 ton
%
 *1000 ton %
Materials
    Paper and Paperboard
20230
27.8
32610
40.8
    Glass
2620
20.0
3170
25.7
    Metals
        Ferrous
2580
20.4
4500
38.0
        Aluminum
1010
35.9
1020
34.2
        Other Nonferrous
730
66.4
840
66.7
    Total Metals
4320
26.1
6360
39.6
    Plastics
370
2.2
1060
5.4
    Rubber and Leather
        Tires
370
11.6
590
18.6
    Total Rubber & Leather
370
6.4
590
9.5
    Textiles
660
11.4
950
12.3
    Wood
130
1.1
490
4.5
    Other
680
21.3
780
21.1
Total Materials in Products
29380
20.1
46010
29.4
Other Wastes
    Food Wastes
Neg.
Neg.
520
2.4
    Yard Waste
4200
12.0
10800
38.4
    Miscellaneous Inorganic Wastes
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Total Other Wastes
4200
7.2
11320
21.3
Total MSW Generated
33580
16.4
57330
27.3

 

Subjects

 
References
  1. U.S.Environmental Protection Agency et al, Scrap tire Technology and Markets Noyes Data Corporation, NJ 1993
  2. Scrap Tire Management Council  Data in 1996,  Data in 1998
  3. The MSW Factbook.  The Municipal and Industrial Solid Waste Division of EPA's Office of Solid Waste
  4. Press Releases #20925ms.296. Goodyear
  5. Heather Hepler. "The bulk of the recycling market. (statistics on recyclable materials)" American City & County, July 1994 v109 n8 p67(1)
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