The trucking industry, in recent years, has been on the receiving end of a barrage of new technology, equipment and operating practices. In fact, one saying keeps cropping up in trucking circles: “The only constant is change itself.”
Certainly, the issue of scrap tires and how to dispose of them responsibly has historically been a thorny one for most fleet operators. Those fleets with sufficient size (read: negotiating leverage) often pass this task along to their tire dealers. Still, the costs and logistics of handling scrap tires continue to be viewed as major problems.
However, there are some growing opportunities that could cause this to change.
The first line of defense in good tire management is to delay the final trip to the scrap pile as long as possible. The trucking industry is far ahead of other transportation segments in this effort.
Materials and process developments in new tire casings, combined with improved repair techniques and advances in retread technology, have contributed to radial tires that last longer and retain more of their original tread performance characteristics. The economic benefits of extending service life while maintaining vehicle reliability and safety are now widely realized. There are, however, some disturbing environmental facts to consider when those casings are rendered unusable.
First, tires take a lot of petroleum to manufacture, and much of this energy is still contained in the scrapped tire. Specifically, 22 gallons of oil are consumed in manufacturing a typical 295/75R22.5 over-the-road radial. Approximately seven gallons are used in retreading that same casing. When scrapped, tires still contain more BTU content per pound than high-quality anthracite coal – the desirable, clean-burning grade.
Truck tires also contain considerable quality steel, since only very homogeneous bar stock, mostly imported, is acceptable for the precision, deep-drawing process used in making steel tire cords.
Finally, there is a lot of carbon, a key component for the steel manufacturing industry.
With that said, it seems wasteful for tires simply to be chopped and used as energy-absorbing playground material, added to asphalt mixes for road pavements, or, worse yet, put into landfills.
Two primary problems have traditionally stalled more efficient scrap-tire solutions. First, used tires are costly to transport. They are considered low-value freight, and there are still only small numbers of widely scattered reclaiming facilities.
Secondly, new technology and major capital investment are required to make most reclamation processes economically productive. Chopped tires used as TDF (tire-derived fuel) burn at very high temperatures – higher than coal, natural gas or other petroleum-based fuels. Most facilities that convert fuel to energy via burning, such as typical electricity generation plants, cannot accommodate the high temperatures.
Specially outfitted burn chambers can readily accept tires and extract their high BTU energy, but new investment in these facilities has been slow. At the end of 2003, there were 89 facilities in the U.S. using TDF on a regular basis.
It should be noted that TDF burns very efficiently and emits no toxic chemicals when properly burned at high temperatures.
Every two years, the Rubber Manufacturers Association compiles and publishes the most complete report on U.S. Scrap Tire Markets (www.rma.org/scrap_tires/). The chart on the previous page shows the most recent disposition by segment of use.
Problem and Opportunity
Approximately 300 million scrap tires are generated annually, one for each man, woman and child in the U.S. Nearly 94% of these are passenger and light truck models, while only about 6% are larger truck, OTR or other tires. This, of course, reflects the longer lifecycle and extensive retreading typical of medium radials.
While these figures are based on units rather than tonnage, the trucking industry can still claim a much higher lifecycle utilization.
There are many local, county and state regulations governing the use, storage and disposition of scrap tires. Some of these are the result of frustration with abusive practices in the past, including landfill pollution, tire fires and private stockpiles, which are cited as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and potential fire sites.
Today, remaining scrap-tire stockpiles have been drastically reduced and are now heavily concentrated (approximately 91%) in only 11 states. The tire industry’s goal is to continue working away at these scrap-tire reserves and create channels for immediate disposition of newly generated scrap.
This should also be the goal of every trucking operation and tire dealer. It is worthwhile to study all of the potential opportunities for scrap-tire disposition in your local area.
This is as much about being a good corporate citizen as it is practical. Government tends to intervene when the private sector drops the ball, after all.
Due to the transportation costs noted earlier and the farflung locations that can utilize scrap tires, cash might flow in either direction when tires change hands. It might pay you or your fleet customer to investigate.
The RMA report, which details scrap-tire generation and usage broken down by numerous local regions, is a good place to start.
