1. No category

IJhe tire and rubber industry:
&’
Leading a ¿lynamic lifecycle
by ITRA’s Tire and Rubber Recycling Advisory
Council
v
DUK7
i>’
T
he market capacity for scrap tire products
is catching up with processing volumes.
Substantial investments have been made,
especially in the past decade, to recover and
utilize scrap tires and other rubber products.
This recycling industry will continue to grow.
This article, which was prepared by the
Tire and Rubber Recycling Advisory Council of the Intemational Tire and Rubber Association (Louisville, Kentucky), describes the
current status of tire and rubber recycling.
Details regarding TRRAC are provided in a
sidebar.
Lifecycle assessment important
To fully understand the current status of tire
and rubber recycling, we must first understand the lifecycle of the materials and products involved, up to the point where the recycling process begins. This is portrayed in the
accompanying box.
In the first part of the lifecycle, the players are largely rubber producers (virgin or
synthetic), rubber users (tire manufacturers,
hose and gasket producers, etc.), equipment
manufacturers who use rubber products (carmakers, agricultura1 equipment manufacturers, etc.) and product distributors (tire retailers, automotive supply houses, etc.).
The rubber products are then used by consumers, either as tires on our cars, as gaskets
sealing our doors and Windows, or in balls
with which we play. These products, due to
the resilience of rubber, normahy have a fair-
m
Resource Recycling
March 1998
ly long use cycle. So, in terms of time elapsed,
this is the longest stage of the rubber products lifecycle.
The scrap and recycling cycle
Once the product has reached the end of its
useful life, it enters the scrap and recycling
stream. As seen in the accompanying box,
this is a multi-stage progression.
Clearly, the players in the disposition and
recycling of-scrap rubber or tires are scrap
generators, state and local govemments, collectors, processors and end users. Since tires
represent the vast majority of rubber scrap,
we will look at the players from a scrap tire
perspective, with the understanding that the
dynamics for other forms of scrap rubber are
similar.
Generators
Scrap tires are commonly generated when
new tires are purchased to replace used ones.
Because most of us buy new tires from dealers, the scrap tire generally becomes the dealer’s responsibility.
Depending on state law, the dealer may
charge a fee or tax to compensate the firm or
the state for tire management costs. Documentation and certification forms for tracking purposes are usually required to validate
that the dealer generated these scrap tires
through new-tire sales.
The dealer will normally contract with a
collector to pick up and haul the tires to an
approved processor. Before tires are received
by the processor, the dealer and/or the collector may sort them to cull out tires that can
be resold as used tires or as retreadable casings.
Government
Due to the large volume of materia1 represented by scrap tires, most states have adopted laws that regulate and manage the scrap
tire flow. The typical state program has four
components.
Funding. As noted above, a fee or tax is
charged on the sale of a new tire to fund scrap
tire managementand disposal efforts (30 states
impose a fee). The fee or tax is generally
added to the sale price of the new tire, and the
funds are sent to and managed by the state.
The funds typically flow back to processors
or counties as reimbursements for the costs
of properly managing tires, or are used in
some form to reimburse end users to promote
increased use of tire-derived materials.
Permitting and licensing. The state govemment imposes permit or license requirements on collectors, processors and disposition sites (such as tire monofills). These
requirements are normally structured to minimize the state’srisk of having to clean up tire
piles or residues left by a defunct collector or
Tkacking. Dealers, collectors and processors (or disposition site operators) use tracking forms to validate the legitimacy of the
flow; the forms become the basis for funding. These forms require the generator (commonly a dealer) to certify the amount of tires
and how the tires were generated. Then the
collector and processor must validate or confirm those facts.
Enforcement. State enforcement personnel inspect and audit tire dumps, collection sites, processing facilities and disposition sites to ensurethat scrap tire flow is being
managed appropriately. Their audits cover
all the parametersof the stíite’s specific scrap
tire management law and the individual permit involved. These personnelgenerally have
the authority to write violation notices and to
start penalty proceedings.
Additional programs. Some states also
fund and manage scrap tire pile clean-up
actions where large piles exist and no obvious funding or plan is in place to manage or
disposeof them. Additionally, more and more
states are using mechanisms, such as grants
and other sources of funding, for the development of markets for scrap-tire-derived
materials or products.
(/ the virgin rubber plant is harvested
(/ the plant is processed or synthetic
rubber is produced
(/ rubber is vulcanized as part of a
product manufacturing process
c/ finished rubber products are made
(tires, hoses, gaskets, etc.)
c/ the nroducts are sent throuah distribution channels for consum& purchase
d rubber products are used
u’ defective parts and products are
scrapped
d tbe products rea& the end of th&
useful Efe.
processor. The requirements include site
plans, turnover requirements (e.g., 75 percent
of material received in one year must leave
the site orbe disposed of properly), storage
limits and financia1 assurances.
Collectors
Many tire collectors are local used tire sellers who contract with tire dealers to remove
tires for a fee. The collector then sorts the
(/ rubber products enter the scrap or recycling stream
i/ state and local governments regulate the
scrap flow
(/ collectors pick up products, sort them
for recycling and take them to processors or landfílls
ti landfills bury the products, or processors reduce their size before recycling
or landtilling, or retreaders make new
tires from a used ones
d recycling processorsclean, separateand
package recovered materials for sale
d energy producers burn tire-derived fuel,
oí civil engineering users employ chips
ti crumb rubber is modi&ed with a surface
treatment for higher-vah,te applications
ti end users (generally also users of virgm
rubber) purchase treated or untreated
rubber for recycling
li/ recycled robber is used.
tires and takes those that cannot be resold to
a processor.
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idura Max’s unique cutter design, unlike
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ndurz
Circle 47 on RR service card
m
Resource Recycling
March 1998
Call
g&$@~‘~~
4444 So. York Street, Sioux City, IA
Ph: l-800-755-8473,
Fax l-71 2-255-9239
http://www.vitalsite.com/recycle/tires
E-mail: [email protected]
Circle 296 on RR service card
DAWNINGOF A NEW ERA
This article was excerpted in part from TRRAC’s new informational
brochure, Understanding í%-eand Rubber Recycling, which is being
released this spring. TRRAC is an eight-member council established by ITRA in 1995 to assist, educate and serve as spokespeopie for the association’stVe and recycling membership and the industry at large.
Regional and national collectors also operatein the market. Because
the used tire market is fairly large, especially for export, these l%rr~s
can collect vast numbers of resellable tires efficiently. They also fil1
a need of large tire dealership chains who do not want each store having to manage its own scrap tire flow.
Processors
Many scrap tire processorsare also big players in the collection market. To ensure the proper management of their input volume and to
improve the revenue picture, most processorsstill rely heavily on tipping fee income. Leaving the collection business to third parties may
leave the processor without a guaranteed flow of tires and with tires
delivered at lower tipping fees. In addition, the used tire and casing
business represents income potential. Processors who are not also
collectors find they receive loads that have already been culled, leaving them with little orno used tire revenue.
As recently as five years ago, the processingindustry was extremely fragmented. However, since then significant consolidation has
occured, and most industry members are experienced and profes-
nual Conferencé
Trade Show of the Washington
Recycling Association
and
State
May 3-6, 1998
Yakima Convention Center
Yakima, Washington
For additional
information,
contact:
WSRA
(206) 244-0311
L
Circle 166 on RR service card
TC-6 Oil Filter Crusher
Crushes with 22,000 Ibs.
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filters up to 5” wide and
8” high:
ITI
trwk tires into quaiterr
Available in 3 different models
1. Wall Hang Unit
2. Full Standina on o!Xional
3. %“nf~%~~?!?z
oil tank
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a gasol~ne
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witf~a heavyduty box frame mcun&d on a
Powared by
asar
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portabla trsulerwith standardT WI hitch. kfydraulii tire
lMl makes kwkng and unfoacfing safe and easy
Extra heavyduty unit
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nger and ttuck tires
all
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moved 10 any location. Priced for affor~Íi¡~~ ~tLS
avaitable with a gasolina ar an eiectric motor, and
can cut up to 120 passenger tires or 40 truck tires
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tic into 2o”x2O”xW bales. Designec! for
mobility. 7’10” long by 24” wtde. Easily
fits onto a fru& or traiisr. 12-vott system
p&h na hydrauri 0nes) or 1 lO-volt hookup for in-plant operation.
._________
fdv/
&tt
passenger and Ighl truck wtteels Whf& fafl tul of tires
when crushed PortaMe and fast. Crushes up to 1M1
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eiectric ergme
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l
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Circle 262 on RR service card
Resource Recycling
March 1998 m
sional in their operations. There are four
major categories of processors.
Monofills. As regulations have increased
and recycling markets have developed, the
flow of whole or processedtires into landfills
or monofills has decreased. There are, however, still a number of monofills or landfills
that receive, shred and bury tires. Increasingly, however, even these processors are
entering the recycling market, particularly as
chip suppliers to fuel or civil engineering
users.
Chip markets. The largest-volume markets today are chip markets, with tire-derived
fuel (TDF) and civil engineering uses domi-
nating. These markets have created a niche
for many processors to service, wherein the
processor can handle large volumes of tires
and se11al1 or most of the material.
Crumb rubber. Crumb rubber producers take shredded tire scrap and size reduce
it further, while removing al1 the non-rubber
components (dirt, steel fiber, etc.).
Some tirms specializein crumb rubber production, and othersmake both chips and crumb
rubber. Although chips are the largest market
segment,many chip producersare moving into
crumb rubber production becausethey recognize that their viability in the chip market is
largely dependent on tipping fees due to the
low value of chips. As tipping fees go down,
these firms want to move into the higher>$ue market representedby crumb rubber.
Overcapacity has plagued the crumb rubí
ber market. As a result of passageof the 1991
federal highway act, which called for the
increased use of crumb rubber in highway
projects, crumb rubber production capacity
rose by 200 to 300 percent. When the usage
requirement was repealed, the tire recycling
industry was left with excess capacity. The
result has been consolidation in the industry
and the opportunity for crumb-rubber end
users to discriminate in their purchasesbased
on quality and price. Prices have, therefore,
been depressed,making it harder for processors to be profitable.
The prognosis for crumb rubber producers looks positive, however, as more and more
research and development is being done to
allow the use of crumb rubber in rubber products. The automotive and tire industries are
particularly aggressive in this effort.
Integrated Iirms. Some processorsmake
crumb rubber and then use tbe rubber to make
products. This is currently the smallest market segment, but one with enormous growth
potential. The growth will come as consolidation of the industry continues and processors realize that the best opportunity to make
a profit is in end-use product manufacturing.
We also may see some current or future end
users integrate downward into the processing businessto better control quality and price.
ETTHE
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m
Resource Recycling
March 1998
End users
The most important and least developed part
of the industry is the end-user sector. The key
to increasing the use of scrap-tire materials is
in the development of new end-use applications and the increased use of these materials
in existing applications. For example, rubber use is growing because of the introduction of new technologies that modify raw
crumb rubber by surface treatment or devulcanization to expand its use into highervalue applications.
Today’s big players in the end-use sector
are tire manufacturers; state transportation
agencies; power generators and cement and
paper producers that use TDF; and manufacturers of rubber products, such as mats, solid wheels, friction brakes and other industrial, agricultura1 and automotive rubber products.
Driven by improved markets and concerted
govemment action, more scrap tires are being
recoveredthan ever before. In severalregions
of the country, tires in stockpiles have been
processed and used in practical, cost-saving
applications. Gradually, market capacity is
catching up with processing volumes. As
thesetrends continue, the tire and rubber recycling industry will continue to use its energy,
technologies and financia1 resources to create the best possible end results for the mateRR
rial.