Seas of used tires make an awful spectacle, but what becomes of our tires when they are no longer roadworthy, how many are reused and for what purpose?
Image via Tyremil
Worldwide, efforts are underway to address the issue of used tires. Tires are not biodegradable, so they need to be recycled and repurposed rather than discarded. Seas of tires still exist in dumps around the globe, but progress is being made in dealing with the problem.
Magnum Recycling USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Magnum D’Or Resources, Inc., is located northwest of Hudson, CO, at the site of the world’s biggest tire dump. Currently, Magnum has over 30 million tires awaiting treatment and plans to recycle or process the entire stock within a few years.
Hudson, CO: World’s Largest Tire Dump
Image via Twilight Earth
The problem of scrap tires is far worse in the USA than in Europe. In the USA, an estimated 300 million tires are disposed of annually, a figure that is absolutely staggering.
Several states have already taken steps to get rid of all tire dumps. West Monroe, in New York state, was home to the Fortino Tire Dump, where 11 million used tires were stored. It was the largest of 102 dumps in the state, and was finally cleared in 2009 after the state spent $81 million on the clean-up operation.
Hudson, CO
Image via Australian Scrap Tyre Disposals
One way in which tires are used is as a fuel source for generating power, but this is very inefficient, not to say questionable in terms of emissions. Incineration occurs at higher temperatures than coal and produces 25% more energy, but since burning a ton of tires produces almost the same amount of carbon, it is hardly eco-friendly.
Even though incineration happens under carefully controlled conditions and is used to supplement traditional fuels — helping to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and keep scrap tires out of landfills — it is far from ideal.
Thankfully, however, there are currently several ways in which tires are recycled. One use is in creating rubberized asphalt for highways. According to the EPA, 7.4 million tires were ground and used as a component in new highways in 2005. This not only recycles scrap tires, but also lowers the cost of highway construction.
Hudson, CO: Another View
Image via Australian Scrap Tyre Disposals
Growing markets exist for a majority of the scrap tires produced every year that are supported by state and local government. Tires are also often recycled for use on basketball courts and in new shoe products. Other programs turn tires into ground rubber or rubber shreds, used to create ground cover for playgrounds, backfill for civil engineering programs, garden mulch, erosion control barriers or drainage foundations around buildings.
Gold Coast Tire Dump, Australia
Image via Australian Scrap Tyre Disposals
Forty million tires are used every year in the U.K., of which 25% go to be retreaded. Some 30% go to landfill and most of the remainder are burnt. Government policy, wrongly it seems, is to incinerate where possible, but happily there is a strongly growing trend toward recycling far more old tires.
The uses of the rubber recovered from the recycling processes are myriad — everything from carpet underlay to shoe soling, from road construction to resurfacing of sports and play areas. The tires are either shredded or reduced to a fine crumb, which is then sold to be used in a variety of applications.
There are many more companies becoming interested in such practices, and in Germany everyone who buys a new tire pays a small tax that is levied to help pay for tire recycling. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden and Norway all claimed 100% diversion of tires from landfill, but in terms of tires being recycled, the U.K. leads the way.
Another Australian Tire Dump
Image via Australian Scrap Tyre Disposals
Germany, notwithstanding its tire tax innovation, is the leader in burning waste tires — recovering energy from 321,000 tons of used tires in 2006, more than all the other EU countries combined, but unfortunately pushing much more pollution back into the atmosphere.
In the not so distant future, the rapidly rising economies of China and India will also create waste tire problems for their respective governments. Not only are these the fastest growing economies, but they are also the most populated. The annual consumption rate of rubber in China and India is certain to grow, and by 2020, it is anticipated that there will be a worldwide deficit in the world’s rubber supply.
Many old tires have been weighted down and used to create artificial reefs for sea life in Asia and Australia. Others are roped together in long lengths to provide flood defenses in the USA. Yet no matter how many ways people find to make use of tires, old tire dumps still spring up around the world. The message seems finally to be getting through that this problem needs to be addressed, but do we still have enough time?
Seas Of Rubber! « Earth Environment Underground
June 10th, 2010
[...] Seas Of Rubber! by admin under Uncategorized Worldwide, efforts are underway to address the issue of used tires. Tires are not biodegradable, so they need to be recycled and repurposed rather than discarded. Seas of tires still exist in dumps around the globe, but progress is being made in dealing with the problem. Magnum Recycling USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Magnum D’Or Resources, Inc., is located northwest of Hudson, CO, at the site of the world’s biggest tire dump. Currently, Magnum has over 30 million tires awaiting treatment and plans to recycle or process the entire stock within a few years. … Read ahead [...]
Seas of Rubber: The Truth About Tire Recycling : Popular Links : eConsultant
June 11th, 2010
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SRI
June 12th, 2010
Thanks for bringing attention to the fact that for lack of a better alternative, around the World, the majority of recovered tires are burnt as fuel (TDF) in the cement and paper industry.
Just a note, the photos you have posted of Hudson are not correct. Those are of the Westly, CA pile that was consumed by a fire in the late 90s.
The correct photo is here. http://bit.ly/aiwoTA
Mike
June 16th, 2010
Tires burned have heavy metals in the ashes. You can scrub anything out of a smockstack but heavy metals stay forever. Tirecycyle™ is a process where we apply a low molecular Treatment to ground rubber to make new rubber. See WRAP.UK87 Tyres
report.
vicente
June 17th, 2010
OMG, Every country spent a lot of money for to trainning students in the universities, I can’t believe that there’nt some system for a good tires recycling.
Like to Mexico Gulf oil spill, that is horrendous, and is coming next oil spill in the south pole, please dear professionals save us.
Jon
June 17th, 2010
There is a refined technology coming to the market place this summer that can process used tires for as little as $.25 per tire.
Energy 2.0 » Blog Archive » Only you can prevent tyre pyres
July 2nd, 2010
[...] directory website, 1-800-RECYCLING has a recent story about the obscure problem of tire—or tyre in most Commonwealth nations—disposal, [...]
Steve
September 10th, 2010
It should be noted that substituting one ton of tire derived fuel in a cement kiln can offset the environmental damages of mining & processing 1.2 tons of coal, which releases 60kg of CO2 into the atmosphere. At the point of combustion, tires emit 85kg/GJ of CO2 – 30% of which is natural rubber content, and considered to be carbon neutral. This compares to 90kg/GJ of fossil carbon released from coal.
If an average sized cement kiln substituted 25% of its coal with tires, it could dispose of 2.5 million tons of tires in a single year, with similar and often improved NOx/SO2 emissions over burning 100% coal.
While other uses of scrap tires should take priority before combustion, and there are emerging “zero carbon” technologies (if you don’t count the energy input to process) that extract energy & raw materials from scrap tires, using tires as fuel for cement kilns is by far the most established and efficient way to control the waste problems. The EU currently recovers over 95% of their scrap tires – 25% of which are used as industrial fuel. The US has an 85% recovery rate, with 43 cement plants using 53% (154.7 million tires per year) of the overall stockpiles – and as much as 90% in some US states.
Yes, there is an emerging problem with scrap tires in rapidly developing countries, but there is also a solution that we can do right now to address it – one that has a net benefit to the environment over current fossil-based practices. But it keeps getting overlooked – and even actively opposed by some environmental groups – as we wait for a perfect solution that is both zero carbon and economically viable. Meanwhile, the tire stockpiles grow, and cement plants keep burning coal.
ollie boyce
December 3rd, 2010
hi my name is ollie i am a mobile dj from cambridgeshire i have come up with an idea on tyre recycling please check out my video on youtube under recycled tyre speakers,i have a patent pending also won gold medal at british invention show alexandra palace october 2010,just trying in a small way to save our planet.regards ollie
Nana Dominey (Imperium)
January 23rd, 2011
Kinda OT here but thought you might like to know that your page looks great on my new IPad. Not bragging, just thought you’d like to know ;)
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