USTMA declares scrap tire management 'environmental success story'

WASHINGTON — Scrap tire management in the U.S. is one of the great environmental success stories, the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (UTSMA) declared in releasing the 2017 U.S. Scrap Tire Report.

As of 2017, more than 81 percent of scrap tires in the U.S. find a useful end-life in products such as tire-derived fuel (TDF), rubber-modified asphalt and other products, according to the USTMA report released July 18.

This contrasts with 1991, the year the USTMA — then called the Rubber Manufacturers Association — began its efforts in scrap tire management. At that time, one scrap tire in 10 was reused effectively, the association said.

Also, the number of stockpiled scrap tires in the U.S. has been reduced by 94 percent since 1991, to about 60 million from more than 1 billion, the trade group said.

"Scrap tire management in the U.S. demonstrates an environmental success story — one that not enough people know about," USTMA President and CEO Anne Forristall Luke said upon the release of the new report.

"Over the past 30 years, USTMA has worked with state partners to find uses for scrap tires," Ms. Luke said. "This success is reflective of the commitment to environmental responsibility from our industry, and we look forward to building on these successes as we work towards our goal of 100 percent of scrap tires reused."

TDF and rubber-modified asphalt will continue to be the key areas of growth in the scrap tire industry, and will be the focus of the USTMA's scrap tire management efforts, the association said.

Highlights of the report include:

• At 43 percent, TDF was the highest use for scrap tires in 2017. TDF use in cement kilns continues to increase, parallel with strong performance in the construction industry.

• Rubber-modified asphalt, a highly effective and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional paving materials, consumed more than 7 million tires in 2017.

• In the ground-rubber market, top end-uses include mats, garbage cans, flooring, landscaping and playground mulch.

• Thirty-seven states collect fees on new tires for scrap tire management, and 30 have scrap tire stockpile cleanup programs, 23 of which are active.