Martin Tire Recovery, a Kentucky-based tire recycling operation, is looking to add a second tire recycling facility in Kentucky. The company already operates a tire recycling operation in Marion, Ky., that handles around 3 million passenger tires a year.
Kent Martin, president of the company, says that strong demand and a new product line is giving the company the opportunity to site an additional facility. Martin hopes to decide on a location by the middle of June, although the company is leaning toward a second facility in Marion.
Local press reports say that Martin Tire acquired roughly 20 acres in the Western Kentucky Industrial Foundation. The facility, which the company hopes will be operational within the next four months, will be able to handle around 2 million passenger and tractor tires.
The finished product the company will be marketing will include tire-derived fuel, as well as mulch. Some of the TDF is marketed to Owensboro Municipal Utilities, where it is mixed with coal to produce energy for the utility firm.
Martin says that the company will pull tires from most of the Ohio Valley area, including parts of Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana.
The new plant will include a building, as well as equipment such as shredders to process the tires.