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Last updated: November 15, 2001

Tires and Product Stewardship

Approximately 6 million scrap tires are generated annually in Washington State alone. The number of scrap tires continues to increase each year as the number of vehicles on the road and miles driven increases.

What Is The Problem?
It takes around 22 gallons of crude oil, along with steel and natural rubber to make a new tire. When tires are landfilled or stockpiled, the value of these resources is lost. Most scrap tires in Washington end up in a landfill. Washington is one of the few states with no restrictions on landfilling tires.

Tire piles continue to be a problem in some areas of Washington State. Tire piles are a breeding ground for rats and mosquitoes and are prone to fires. Tire pile fires are extremely difficult to extinguish and release many pollutants into the air, water and soils that are a threat to human health. Cleanups have cost taxpayers many millions of dollars.

Recent Washington Activity
Between 1990 and 1995 a tire tax of $1 per tire was collected for each new tire sold. The funds were used by the Department of Ecology to clean up some of the larger tire piles in Washington. Most tire dealers continue to collect a $1-$2/tire fee to offset their disposal costs.

The Product Stewardship Solution
By adopting the principles of product stewardship to reduce the lifecycle environmental impacts of their products, companies can seize a competitive advantage and realize measurable benefits. Tire companies are recognizing the power of product stewardhip practices and are taking the following actions:

• Recycled Content - Ford Motor company has been working with two of its suppliers, Michelin and Continental General, to increase the use of recycled content in new vehicle tires. Continental General is using a grant from the state of North Carolina to research increasing the recycled content of its tires to 25%. New tire production represents a significant end market for crumb rubber from scrap tires.
• Design for Durability - Advances in design have increased the average life expectancy from 20,000 to 60,000 miles per tire.
• Reuse - The manufacture of a retread tire requires only one third the petroleum products of a new tire, yet lasts just as long. Truck tires can be retreaded several times.
• Legislation - Many states have legislation aimed at increasing end markets for products made from scrap tires.

- 37 states ban or restrict the disposal of tires in landfills

- 32 states collect a disposal fee, many of which use the funds to support research and market development

- California, Arizona and Florida have taken the lead in promoting the use of rubber modified asphalt in state highway projects. Huge quantities of scrap tires are put to beneficial use in this way.

Northwest Product Stewardship Council Role
The Northwest Product Stewardship Council is supporting two projects to develop a sustainable system for managing scrap tires in the region. Both projects involve multiple players in the tire life cycle - tire manufactures, tire dealers, scrap tire processors, end users of scrap tire products, government and consumers. One project will focus on recycling scrap tires into end products other than tires. The other will focus on designing tires with increased recycled content and reduced environmental impacts. The goal of both projects is to develop solutions to the scrap tire problem that are agreeable to all players and are both environmentally responsible and economically viable.