EPA proposes abandoned tire cleanup plan with focus on energy recovery

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a proposal to help clean up millions of abandoned tires throughout the U.S. The proposal also would allow the use of abandoned scrap tires as fuel.

This, the EPA says, would pave the way for more rapid cleanup of tire piles and reduce risks posed to communities by tire pile fires and disease-carrying animals. “At the same time, we are removing the visual blight on our beautiful American landscapes,” the organization says.

According to the EPA, approximately 48 million abandoned scrap tires remain in at least 23 states and Tribal lands. The proposal would allow whole abandoned scrap tires to be used in cement kilns as nonwaste fuel and aims to allow established tire collection programs to manage all scrap tires used as fuel in the same way.

“Abandoned tire piles across the U.S. pose a threat to the health and safety of Americans, but this waste stream can be and should be responsibly and carefully addressed to make America both healthy and energy dominant again,” Thomas Croci, acting assistant administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management, says. “Our latest proposal provides a commonsense approach to better clean up scrap tires and realize their full potential as fuel.”

The EPA will accept comments on the proposal for 60 days, until May 22, 2026.