Nucor Tire-Recycling Program Cuts Costs; Eyed By Others

A Nucor Corp. initiative that uses scrap tires to help lower raw-material costs and protect the environment is gaining traction in the industry.

Additional plants owned by the Charlotte steelmaker and by other companies are looking into starting programs similar to one at Nucor's Auburn, N.Y., plant. That facility has been melting tires in its electric-arc furnace for about 18 months and estimates it has saved about $1 million in coal and scrap-steel costs.

"The savings are significant," said Steve A. Green, environmental manager for Nucor Steel Auburn Inc. "And the environmental benefits are huge."

The Auburn plant's tire sources include community collection days, salvage yards and replacement-tire retailers, and it is working with the state to begin helping clean up some tire stockpiles, which can be breeding grounds for mosquitoes and are vulnerable to uncontrolled fires.

The Auburn plant makes carbon steel bar products for the automotive, agricultural, construction and other industries. Nucor has historically used coal to supply carbon used in the manufacturing process, Green said.

But Green estimates 500,000 tires used since March 2002 have replaced roughly 4,000 tons of coal, and the plant is now using tires at a rate of 1 million a year.

"We're largely using tires in lieu of coal," Green said.

Each 20-pound passenger tire also typically contains a few pounds of steel, which is melted to make new steel products. That means the Auburn plant has been able to get roughly 500 tons of scrap steel out of the tires it has used, he said.

Nucor charges a small fee to accept tires, but unlike some tire recyclers, it doesn't require the steel, including tire rims, to be removed or the rubber to be shredded before going into the scrap bucket.

Companywide, Nucor each year uses about 13 million tons of scrap metal from junked cars, appliances and construction debris, but scrap costs have been rising as China's own steel plants and its growing infrastructure push up demand. Nucor's scrap-steel costs averaged $127 a ton in the first half of this year, compared with $102 a ton in the same period a year ago, according to the company Internet site.

"Scrap is our most expensive raw material," said Green.

Finally, the melting tires put off heat energy, which helps the plant use a bit less electricity.

Nucor was required to modify some environmental permits, but Green said the process doesn't produce the billowing clouds of black smoke in the sky that many in the public fear from burning tires. The plant's pollution-control devices capture emissions and filter the particulates, he said.

Considering the success in Auburn, Nucor's bar mill outside of Jackson, Miss., is also in the early stages of getting local and state approvals in order to start trials of its own version of the process by year end.

"The motive is to get these tires out of circulation, but of course, we hope to benefit financially too," said John Rose, environmental manager for Nucor Steel Jackson Inc.

At that plant, the key benefit would be that tires replace some of the metallurgical carbon, a more pure source of carbon than coal, that is currently used in the manufacturing process, Rose said.

Several Nucor officials said they expect other company plants to consider the idea, too.

Nucor, the most profitable U.S. steel producer, is no stranger to testing new ideas. It revolutionized the industry with its super-efficient, nonunion steel plants and technological breakthroughs. Chief Executive Dan DiMicco often says using technology to leapfrog competitors is a key strategy for the company's growth.

Green, of Nucor's Auburn mill, said a former employee at the company's Nebraska operations holds the patent on the idea of using scrap tires as an alternate carbon source, and Nucor has a license to use it.

Ipsco Inc. (IPS), based in Lisle, Ill., is also studying whether it can incorporate tires as a replacement for carbon sources at its Mobile, Ala., operations, company officials said. It is fine-tuning a pilot study and is working with state environmental officials for approval, said Joe Wesselman, Ipsco's environmental director.

"One of the reasons for doing this is Mobile County has a fairly severe problem with scrap tires," said communications director John Comrie.

He and Wesselman said it's too early to estimate any cost savings, but if the program is successful, Ipsco would probably consider it for other operations.

Other companies are also seeking information about how they can use tires to make steel, said Michael Blumenthal of the Rubber Manufacturers Association, which represents more than 100 companies that manufacture tires, hoses, belts and other rubber products.

Blumenthal, the association's senior technical director, said he is working with several steelmakers, including various Nucor plants, interested in adopting the process.

Not all steel mills will be able to use tires, but Blumenthal is hopeful that between what Nucor and Ipsco have planned, some communities may be able to begin reducing stockpiled tires.

Nearly 300 million scrap tires are generated in the U.S. annually, and about 77% went to end-use markets in 2001, according to the association. Most of those, about 135 million tires, were used as fuel in cement kilns or power plants. About 33 million tires were ground up to make new tires, asphalt, playground mats, soundproofing materials and other products. Another 50 million tires were reused in civil engineering projects, such as landfills, roads or septic fields.