Businesses find new use for scrap tires

The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery has approved nearly $2.9 million in grant funding to nine companies that use California scrap tires to make new products.

Grants awarded through CalRecycle’s Tire Incentive Program reimburse businesses based on products sold, creating financial incentives for manufacturers to more competitively price and market their recycled content products.

“Using recycled materials to make new products isn’t always the cheapest option up front, but the long-term benefits to the environment and human health make investments like these a bargain for California,” CalRecycle Director Scott Smithline states in a press release. “These investments support the recycling infrastructure and markets we need to close the loop in California and transform our waste stream into a supply stream.”

California manages more than 48 million scrap tires each year. Based on sales projections, grant recipients will prevent the landfill disposal of more than 20.6 million pounds of California-generated crumb rubber (the equivalent of roughly 1.7 million scrap tires) over the next two years.

Grant recipients are: Environmental Molding Concepts; Herbert Malarkey Roofing Company; MBTechnology; Millennium Molding, Inc.; Three D Plastics, Inc.; TrafFix Devices, Inc.; U.S. Rubber Recycling, Inc.; United Sports Surfacing of America, Inc.; and, Van Duerr Industries, Inc.

The manufacturers produce a range of products, from rubber tiles, shingles, roofing, sports floor surfacing, rooftop repair and wheelchair ramps.

CalRecycle administers multiple tire-related grant programs to provide opportunities to divert end-of-life tires from landfill disposal, prevent illegal tire dumping and promote markets for recycled-content tire programs. Programs are funded through a fee on new tires sold in California.