Tire Recycling and Market Development

The California Tire Recycling Act authorized CIWMB to award grants and loans to businesses and public entities for activities that could expand markets for used tires. The act specifically lists several types of projects: polymer treatment, crumb rubber production, retreading, shredding, and the manufacture of such products as rubber asphalt, playground equipment, crash barriers, erosion control, floor and track surfacing, oil spill recovery, roofing, and other environmentally safe applications. Grants are intended to fund research projects, to encourage business development, and to assist local government in implementing collection, outreach, and public education programs.

In addition, the Board determined that the primary focus of the Five-Year Plan for the Waste Tire Recycling Management Program (biennial update for fiscal years 2007/08 through 2011/12) would be to build a sustainable statewide market infrastructure for tire-derived products. A solid market infrastructure for rubberized asphalt concrete (RAC), tire-derived aggregate (TDA) in civil engineering applications, rubber mat and cover products, and the development of new tire-derived products is essential to divert the remaining tires still being landfilled or disposed of illegally.

In order to make these markets sustainable, a steady flow of materials into the marketplace, sufficient capacity, diverse product lines, and continuous viable uses for products must also exist. The activities identified in the Five-Year Plan update for fiscal years 2007/08 through 2011/12 are designed to help enhance and solidify the infrastructure that manages waste tires from generation to end-product, through partnership with local jurisdictions, the private sector, and other State agencies. Building strong sustainable markets in California can increase the intrinsic value of waste tires as a raw material, diminishing the current economic advantage of landfilling tires. (See Products and Uses.)

The ongoing challenge for the Board is to continue to develop viable markets for the remaining 10.5 million waste tires that are being landfilled annually to achieve the CIWMB's zero waste goals with respect to tires. The Board is dedicated to finding new uses for this valuable resource and is committed to working cooperatively with local governments, industry, and the public to reach this goal. (See the Tire Recycling Market Guide for additional information.)

Last updated: December 02, 2007