Scrap Tires in the Southeast- State Links

The majority of Region 4 states have cleaned up the scrap tire piles in their states and are actively implementing innovative uses for scrap tires. The state of Florida and South Carolina have been a leaders in the use of asphalt rubber for use in highway pavement. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina allow tire shreds to be used in construction of drain fields for septic systems. Kentucky has used tires funds for market development including expanded use of tire derived fuel. In Tennessee, each county receives a per ton dollar amount for waste tires collected and sent to beneficial end use through the state's Waste Tire Grant Fund. And both Mississippi and North Carolina administer funds to improve the use of recycled materials, including scrap tires. For more information, see below:

Alabama
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
Mississippi
North Carolina
South Carolina
Tennessee

Alabama

In 1999 the Alabama legislature, responding to the large number of illegal tire dumps in the state, passed legislation that established a Scrap Tire Program. The legislation also established a Scrap Tire Study Commission that would study the scrap tire problem and recommend ways to clean up existing tire dumps and reduce or eliminate formation of new tire dumps. In 2001, the Scrap Tire Study Commission submitted a report to the Alabama legislature that reported more than 20 million scrap tires illegally disposed in the state, creating a significant public health concern. The report also recommended that new legislation be passed that would establish a fee on the sale of new tires, with proceeds from the fee used to clean up the illegal tire dumps. The Scrap Tire Study Commission worked tirelessly for three years with representatives of the tire retailers, scrap tire processors, tire manufacturers, tire users, city and county governments, and environmental groups to draft the Alabama Scrap Tire Environmental Quality Act that was passed by the legislature in June 2003.

The current Alabama scrap tire law comprehensively regulates scrap tire disposal and recycling and provides for cleanup and remediation of all scrap tire accumulations. The program, administered by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, is funded by a $1 fee on the sale of each replacement tire sold. A portion of the fees collected will be used by the state to fund the Scrap Tire Program, but the majority of the fees will be used to clean up and remediate the dozens of illegal tire dumps in the state. Other portions of the fees will be used to promote a market for scrap tires and for county enforcement programs. Find out more about ADEM''s sccrap tire program at: http://www.adem.state.al.us/LandDivision/ScrapTire/scrap_tire.htm

State Contact: Gavin Adams, ADEM
Phone Number: 334-271-7770
Email Address: mga@adem.state.al.us

Florida

Florida's waste tire management program provides for the regulation of waste tire storage, collection, transport, processing, recycling, reuse, and disposal through permitting and registration programs. The state estimates that 195,000 tons of waste tires are generated annually from automobiles, light trucks, medium trucks, and larger tires. Florida's Waste Tire Abatement Program provides for identification, evaluation, and clean up of waste tire sites.

Before Florida’s waste tire management program was implemented in 1989, almost all waste tires in the state were landfilled or stockpiled. Starting in 1989, tires had to be cut or shredded into at least 8 pieces prior to landfill disposal, thereby encouraging development of alternative uses. An increasing percentage of tire shreds have been diverted to a broad range of constructive applications. Approximately 17 million (87%) of the 19.5 million waste tires generated in Florida in 2002 were beneficially used.

Florida’s crumb rubber markets include asphalt modification, playground/sports surfacing, soil modification/cover, and molded products. The Florida Department of Transportation consumes almost 9,000 tons of crumb rubber annually as part of the interlayer, friction course, and crack sealants used in roadway construction and maintenance. Manufacturing crumb rubber for this market consumes about 1.5 million tires. Florida is the only state that specifies rubber modified asphalt for friction course pavement on all state-maintained roads.

Playground surfacing, both loose-filled and poured-in-place, is also a significant use of crumb rubber in Florida. For a time, state grants supported up to 50% of crumb rubber purchase costs associated with surfacing materials intended to enhance safety and accessibility of playgrounds. After completion of the grant program, innovative athletic fields utilizing crumb rubber within artificial turf surfaces increased significantly, resulting in continuing growth of crumb rubber in the total sports and safety surface markets. Crumb rubber is also used for soil modification to decrease compaction and enhance drainage on sports fields and other high-traffic grassed areas. Florida producers have also increased sales of crumb rubber to regional manufacturers of molded rubber products, such as tiles and mats. See the SOS-Final 2007 (PDF: 8 pp, 322 KB) for detailed information on scrap tire markets in Florida.

For additional information on scrap tire management in Florida, visit Florida's Waste Tire Management Web site.

State Contact: Laren O'Connor
Phone Number: 850-245-8756
Email Address: lauren.oconnor@dep.state.fl.us

Georgia

In the early 1990's the Georgia Department of Natural Resources created a Scrap Tire Program in an effort to clean up and recycle the nearly 12 million tires housed in illegal stockpiles throughout the state. Funding for cleanup is derived from a $1 scrap tire management fee charged on the retail sale of new tires. Today, the majority of scrap tires generated are shipped to recycling facilities where they are shredded into two-inch by two-inch chips which are primarily used for energy-related and civil engineering applications.

Millions of scrap tires that have been recycled across the state were the result of Georgia's stockpile abatement program. To clean up the "small piles" of scrap tires, the scrap tire program incorporated a program that offers government grants to rural towns and counties after enforcement is done on piles found on private property. Also, with funding assistance from the state, towns or counties can hold scrap tire collection/roadside cleanup events to bring their scrap tires to designated collection sites for removal and recycling. To date, scrap tire program grants have been responsible for the cleanup of over 3.3 million scrap tires.

According to a report entitled Georgia's Scrap Tire Management Program: An Assessment of Economic and Environmental Viability, approximately 62% of Georgia's scrap tire chips are sold as tire derived fuel to paper mills, about 25% are sold to building contractors for use in sewage system drainage fields, and about 13% are sold as feedstock to out-of-state producers of crumb rubber.

For additional information on scrap tire management in Georgia, visit the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division web site.

State Contact: Winthrop Brown, GDNR
Phone Number: 404-362-2694
Email Address: winthrop_brown@dnr.state.ga.us

Kentucky

For more information about Kentucky's scrap tire program go to:

http://www.waste.ky.gov/branches/rla/Waste+Tires.htm

State Contact: Rick Solomon
Phone Number: 502-564-6716 Ext. 4642
Email Address: ricky.solomon@ky.gov

Mississippi

State Contact: Trent Jones
Phone Number: 601-961-5726
Email Address: trent_jones@deq.state.ms.us

North Carolina

For more information on North Carolina's scrap tire managment program fo to:

http://www.wastenotnc.org/swhome/scraptire.asp

State Contact: Ellen Lorscheider
Phone Number: 919-707-8245
Email Address: ellen.lorscheider@ncdenr.gov

South Carolina

For more information on South Carolina's scrap tire managment program fo to:

http://www.scdhec.gov/environment/lwm/regs/R61-107_3.pdf

State Contact: Jana White
Phone Number: 803-896-4221
Email Address: whitejm@dhec.sc.gov

Tennessee

For more information on Tennessee's scrap tire managment program fo to:

http://www.state.tn.us/environment/swm/tires

State Contact: Louis Bordenave
Phone Number: 615-532-0095
Email Address: louis.bordenave@tn.gov

State Contact: Loretta Harrington - Waste Tire Grants
Phone Number: 615-532-0086
Email Address: loretta.harrington@tn.gov