Tennessee Agency Awards $4.2 Million in Grant Money for Tire Recycling

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke have announced that they are providing $4.2 million in Waste Tire Grant money for communities throughout the state. The goal of the grant money is to help communities to find alternative uses for scrap tires.

The Tennessee General Assembly authorized waste tire grants in the Solid Waste Management Act of 1991. Counties are reimbursed $70 per ton of tires and are required to provide one waste tire collection site. Counties may charge an additional fee if the grant is not adequate to cover costs.

The grants are supported from the Waste Tire Fund, which receives revenue from a state surcharge on the purchase of new tires. The Waste Tire Fund is administered by the Department of Environment and Conservation, and ninety cents from every dollar collected is used for solid waste grants and services.

Beneficial end use methods include utilizing crumb rubber in civil engineering projects, asphalt paving, and molded rubber products, but the majority of Tennessee’s waste tires are used as Tire Derived Fuel.

"Tennessee’s tire recycling program provides an environmentally sound disposal method, but the most important step in waste management remains waste reduction," said Fyke.