The U.S. EPA’s Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC) scrap tire management program and issues with scrap tire piles along the U.S.-Mexico border were addressed during a session titled “RCC’s Scrap Tire Partnership: Tackling the Market,” April 21 at the TIA World Tire Expo. 

Thea McManus of the U.S. EPA Office of Solid Waste began the session by outlining the EPA’s new approach away from solid waste management toward materials management. The agency is focusing its efforts on recycling and reuse through the Resource Conservation Challenge, which gives the EPA the opportunity to leverage outside partnerships, create sustainable projects and provide measurable outcomes, McManus said. 

The EPA has determined four policy priorities: recycling 35 percent of municipal solid waste, finding beneficial uses for secondary materials, reducing toxic chemicals and managing obsolete electronics, according to McManus.

RCC has established a Tire Workgroup that has identified two primary goals: to divert 85 percent of newly generated scrap tires to reuse/recycling markets and to reduce stockpiles by 55 percent by 2008. 

McManus also congratulated the scrap tire industry on its successful material management efforts. “You are illustrating a model which we at EPA are extending to other materials.”

She urged more state departments of transportation and recyclers to participate in the Tire Workgroup.

Mike Giuranna with the Philadelphia EPA and a member of the Tire Workgroup Tire-Derived Fuel (TDF) Subcommittee said TDF represents the biggest market for scrap tires currently, absorbing 104 million tires, or twice as many tires as any other end use. TDF provides higher Btus than coal and results in the same emissions.

The TDF Subcommittee is trying to determine additional facilities that can used TDF, he said. Additionally, the subcommittee wants to make the free market work for TDF so that subsidies can be eliminated.

Todd Marvel of the Illinois EPA serves as the chair of the Civil Engineering Subcommittee, which has outlined five civil engineering applications for scrap tires: road construction, landfill construction/remediation, septic field drainage, vibration dampening under railroads and backfill for residential foundation walls.

Figures from the Rubber Manufacturers Association show that civil engineering applications currently absorb 19 percent of the total number of scrap tires generated, Marvel said. The subcommittee predicts that by 2008, civil engineering applications will account for 25 percent of the market for scrap tires.

However, Marvel acknowledged that civil engineering applications still have a number of obstacles to overcome. He cited the lack of clear acceptance from state agencies regarding the use of tire derived aggregate; the definition of shredded tires as solid waste, subjecting them to solid waste storage and disposal requirements; the need to overcome the activities of past “bad actors;” the consideration of civil engineering applications as “experimental” by some state agencies; and the industries difficulty in producing a spec product within a given time frame.

Marvel said he would like to see the EPA recognize and showcase successful civil engineering applications; develop a summary on water quality and toxicology; develop model guidelines and specification for regulatory permitting issues; provide information to the trade and mainstream media; coordinate with other federal agencies to encourage and promote these applications; and develop a standard practices manual.

Pam Swingle of the U.S. EPA Region 4 discussed the goals and obstacles facing the Rubberized Asphalt Subcommittee. Among the subcommittees goals are to promote uniform specifications for the material, to educate the public as well as federal and state agencies and local municipalities on the benefits of rubberized asphalt and to identify champions who will promote the process. Swingle added that the lack of uniform specifications currently act as a barrier to wider use of rubberized asphalt, as does its higher initial cost and questions about its future recyclability. The industry also has to overcome bad experiences from 10 to 15 years ago and the availability of quality rubber.

She added that the subcommittee is currently preparing a package for state DOTs.

Lou Revall of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources discussed the findings of the Ground Rubber Subcommittee. He said the subcommittee is focusing on markets that offer the greatest growth potential, including playground material, sports surfacing, colored mulch and molded products.

The subcommittee has identified a number of barriers that prevent wider use of ground rubber, including the public’s concerns with health, environmental and safety issues, the marketing of ground rubber and the quality of the ground material produced, Revall said.

He has also identified the need for champions who will promote ground rubber applications a the national and state level.

Revall said the subcommittee will develop a ground rubber products use manual as well as a number of technical reports. 

Border War

Following the summaries provided by the RCC Tire Workgroup Subcommittees, the session shifted its focus to scrap tire issues on the U.S.-Mexico border. Panelists included Michael Blumenthal of the Rubber Manufacturers Association, Rick Picardi of the U.S. EPA Office of Solid Waste and Jorge Castillo of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Rick Picardi said that Mexicans turnover their tires more quickly than U.S. residents because they are reusing our old tires.

As part of the Mexico Border 2012 Plan, tire piles in Tijuana, Mexicali and Ciudad Juarez along the border are being remediated, with tires from each of the cleanups going to cement kilns. Picardi said he’d like to see additional markets, like civil engineering, asphalt and crumb rubber, added in the future and for cleanup efforts to continue.

Jorge Castillo spoke about his experiences cleaning up tire piles along the Texas-Mexico border.

Texas did away with its scrap tire program in 1997, he said, in favor of a free-market system. Registration and reporting still continue, but no state fees are imposed, he said.

In Texas 49 percent of scrap tires go to TDF applications, while 28 percent is used in landfill remediation, Castillo said. The state has three crumb rubber facilities and industry retrofits for TDF continue to grow, as do roadway applications, he said.

Scrap tire border efforts in the state are concentrating on getting accurate information on inventories, generation rates, sources, relative risks and economic impacts, Castillo said. 

Michael Blumental said that Mexico has limited scrap tire processing capacity currently, though it is expected to increase. Additionally, no markets for the processed material exist in the country, contributing to the growth of tire piles. He added that it is also unlikely that the flow of used tires into Mexico will be stopped.

The RMA is working with SEMARNAT through the Mexican Embassy to develop a scrap tire management program and urging them to enact national scrap tire legislation to ensure that market development doesn’t become localized.

Additional information on those efforts can be found online at http://rma.org/scrap_tires/US_Mexico_Border_Issues.