Indiana Agency Invests in Scrap Tire End Markets

To help spur the discovery of practical uses for waste tires generated in the state, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management announced investments of $208,440 in research to be conducted at three state universities. Another $67,750 will go to three Indiana high schools and one city where the money will pay for immediate use projects.

"Waste tires are a significant environmental problem in Indiana, and the supply is not diminishing," said IDEM Commissioner Lori Kaplan. "The majority of those that are properly processed are still ending up in landfills, rather than being reused. Our investments today can help change that."

Funding for the grants comes from the state's Solid Waste Management Fund and matching funds from the recipients, which include:

Purdue University, Civil Engineering School, Tippecanoe County,: $100,000 to study the potential use of tire shred mixtures as backfill in highway projects, including overpass walls and road embankments;

Purdue University, Civil Engineering School, Tippecanoe County, $37,500 to assess material and mechanical properties of different tire shred-soil mixtures, and conduct field tests of geotechnical structures built with tire shred-soil mixtures;

Indiana University and the U.S. Geological Survey, Monroe County, $50,000 to study the effectiveness of shredded tire chips used as aggregate in on-site sewage distribution fields;

Valparaiso University, Porter County, $20,940 to build a parking lot and driveway with rubber-modified asphalt;

City of Indianapolis, Department of Parks & Recreation, Marion County, $24,850 to resurface two basketball courts and a parking lot using rubber modified asphalt;

Terre Haute South High School, Vigo County, $6,000 for an athletic field;

Noblesville High School, Hamilton County, $18,450 for an athletic field;

Duneland School Corporation, Porter County, $18,450, for an athletic field.

IDEM has been working for years to address waste tire issues. In the past five years the IDEM has cleaned up 23 areas where tires were illegally dumped. On average, it costs the agency $1.42 per tire to clean up illegal piles.