Looking Back At America’s Most Successful Recycling Story Shows the Next Great Sustainability Opportunity
Each year, almost 300 million scrap tires, estimated to be over six billion pounds, are generated in the United States—that's more than the average weight of every elephant in the world combined. Rubber recyclers and end-market users are critical to finding a secondary life for those millions of tires and keeping them out of landfills.
And from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, the U.S. actually led the world in finding these secondary uses for rubber. The private sector, NGOs, and federal, state, and local governments worked together to help to clean up over 95% of stockpiled scrap tires.
This immense effort not only led to a cleaner environment but also sparked innovations in rubber recycling. Today, most recycled rubber is turned into crumb rubber, which can then be used in playgrounds, infill in sports fields, or as a mixing agent in surfacing such as flooring, poured-in-place rubber, and race tracks. Others have also seen success using recycled rubber in building materials such as advanced flooring, rubberized concrete, paver stones, and more.
This system of recovery, recycling, and secondary usage keeps more than 220 million tires out of landfills each year, supporting nearly 8,500 jobs with an estimated economic impact of $2.47 billion, a marked improvement from before rubber recycling began.
But despite the incredible efforts to recycle the stockpiles of tires, America has lost its edge in global tire recycling in recent years. In 2019 (the most recent year data is available for both Europe and the U.S.), Europe recycled 91% of its end-of-life tires while America was only able to recycle 76%, a 21% decrease from the U.S. peak just a few years prior.
This is because there are more tires being produced each year, while there are not enough end-use markets for them and the end-use markets that already exist are under-utilized. For example, asphalt made with recycled rubber doubles the life-span of roads while reducing costs, yet it is only used in a small fraction of road construction.
As the need for sustainable solutions only becomes more urgent, policymakers must stop overlooking this opportunity to make significant progress towards a truly circular economy. To spread awareness on the recycled rubber industry, the Recycled Rubber Coalition developed a first-of-its-kind white paper, where we offer policy recommendations for the federal, state, and local levels:
Increase research funding: The U.S. EPA and Department of Energy should prioritize grants for expanding the uses of recycled rubber—similar to existing programs for plastics recycling.
Codify environmental standards: While all U.S. crumb rubber is safe, recycled rubber from nations with lower environmental standards may contain harmful chemicals, so chemical and material standards should be codified.
Establish preference in federal purchasing: The EPA maintains a list of recycled products that gain preference in federal procurement. There are many more instances where the federal government can use recycled scrap tire products and cut waste.
Create tax incentives for equipment and facilities: Rubber recycling facilities create good-paying jobs and are innovation centers in many communities. State and local governments should provide tax incentives for facility construction and equipment.
Implement new tire fees: All 50 state governments should enact a fee of at least $1.50 on all new tires purchased, and use the funds generated on recycling and cleanup grant programs.
To read the white paper, which includes policy recommendations as well as background on the waste tires industry and case studies, please visit our website at recycledrubbercoalition.org/research.