Scrap tire disposal: Three principles for policy choice

Natural Resources Journal

Volumn 41, Issue 1, 2001, Pages

  Brown, Kelly M ^a   Cummings, Ronald ^b   Mrozek, Janusz R ^c   Terrebonne, Peter ^b  

^a U S ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY   (United States)

^b GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c CHARLES RIVER ASSOCIATES   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 23044528264     PISSN: 00280739     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (59)

1. See Mark Phillips, California Moves Aggressively in Managing Scrap Tire Problem, RECYCLING TODAY, Oct. 1998, at 34, 36.
2. See generally JOEL I. REISMAN, E.H. PECHAN & ASSOCS., INC., AIR EMISSIONS FROM SCRAP TIRE COMBUSTION (U.S. Envtl. Protection Agency Pub. No. EPA-600/R-97-115, 1997).
3. See SCRAP TIRE MGMT. COUNCIL, SCRAP TIRE USE/DISPOSAL STUDY: 1996 UPDATE 15-48 (1997).
4. See U.S. ENVTL. PROTECTION AGENCY, PUB. NO. EPA 530-B-93-001, STATE SCRAP TIRE PROGRAMS: A QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE (1993).
5. See, e.g., Phillips, supra note 1.
6. See table 1, infra. The source of the information in this title is our telephone survey of administrators of state scrap tire programs. See infra note 6.
7. We contacted administrators of state scrap tire programs (or environmental agencies) in a telephone survey conducted during the summer of 1999. All contacts were asked to describe the nature of their program, with specific questions regarding scrap tire fees, sunset provisions for the fees, legal disposal of scrap tires, and characteristics of the scrap tire industry. We were unable to acquire information from the state of Minnesota.
8. Interview with Lon Revall, Scrap Tire Program Director, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, in Atlanta, Ga. (Aug. 30, 1999).
9. See Phillips, supra note 1, at 36.
10. See REISMAN, supra note 1.
11. For example, Georgia's enabling legislation for a scrap tire management program provides that "It is...the intent of the General Assembly that every effort be undertaken to ensure the proper management of scrap tires from the point of generation to the ultimate point of reuse, recycling, or disposal and that every effort be made to ensure that, where possible, they be reused or recycled rather than being disposed." GA. CODE ANN. § 12-8-21(f) (1996).
12. Information obtained from telephone survey. See supra note 6.
13. See, e.g., SCRAP TIRE MGMT. COUNCIL, supra note 2, at 8.
14. For related discussions, see Richard Donovan et al., Scrap Tire Utilization in Landfill Applications, in PROCEEDINGS OF WASTECON 1996, at 353, 364-70 (Solid Waste Ass'n of N. Am., Pub. No. GR-G 0034, 1996).
15. See, e.g., N.C. DEP'T OF ENV'T & NATURAL RES., SCRAP TIRE MANAGEMENT REPORT FY 1996-97, at 17 (1997).
16. See table 2.d, infra.
17. Twelve states. See table 2.a, infra.
18. Eight states. See table 2.b, infra.
19. Fifteen states. See table 2.c, infra.
20. Information obtained from telephone survey. See supra note 6.
21. Alternatively, in some cases the generator contracts with an independent carrier. The generator pays the carrier a fee. The carrier, in turn, must pay a tipping fee to the processor who accepts the tires.
22. Information based on the authors' interviews with processors and haulers in Georgia.
23. See A.T. KEARNEY, SCRAP TIRE MGMT. COUNCIL, SCRAP TIRE USE/DISPOSAL STUDY 2-1 to 2-28 (1990).
24. See John R. Serumgard, Ground Rubber and Civil Engineering Markets for Scrap Tires, in MUNICIPAL AND SOLID WASTES: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS 125, 126 (Robert E Landreth & Paul A. Rebers eds., 1997);
25. FED. HIGHWAY ADMIN., U.S. DEP'T OF TRANSP., PUB. NO. FWHA-SA-95-056, CRUMB RUBBER MODIFIER (CRM) IN ASPHALT PAVEMENT 4-9 to 4-10 (1995).
26. See Serumgard, supra note 24, at 26-27; Telephone Interviews with Mr. Michael Blumenthal, Executive Director, Scrap Tire Management Council (Summer, 1999).
27. See SCRAP TIRE MGMT. COUNCIL, supra note 2, at 3.
28. See Michael Blumenthal, Scrap Tire Market Analysis, BIOCYCLE: JOURNAL OF WASTE RECYCLING, Sept. 1997, at 70, 72-73;
29. Michael Blumenthal, Tires, in THE MCGRAW-HlLL RECYCLING HANDBOOK 18.1, 18.6 (Herbert F. Lund ed., 1993);
30. Neil N. Eldin & Julian A. Piekarski, Scrap Tires: Management and Economics, 119 J. ENVTL. ENGINEERING 1217, 1222-30 (1993).
31. SEE RONALD G. CUMMINGS ET AL., GA. DEP'T OF NATURAL RES., GEORGIA'S SCRAP TIRE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM: AN ASSESSMENT OF ECONOMC AND ENVIRONMENTAL VIABILITY 4 (1998).
32. Other minor sources of revenues might also accrue to the processor, such as income from sale of scrap metal from wheels and waste wire.
33. A handful of states, e.g., West Virginia, have considered a state concession for waste tire pickup that effectively insulates the processor from competitive pressures. See supra note 6.
34. See generally Hope Pilsbury, Markets for Scrap Tires: An EPA Assessment, RESOURCE RECYCLING, June 1991, at 19;
35. Michael Blumenthal, Growing Markets far Scrap Tires, BIOCYCLE, Oct. 1997, at 53, 53;
36. MT. AUBURN ASSOCS., INC. & NORTHEAST-MIDWEST INST., DEVELOPING MARKETS FOR RECYCLABLE MATERIALS: POLICY AND PROGRAM OPTIONS, (US. Envtl. Protection Agency, Grant No. X818723-01-0, 1993).
37. Prices quoted on the Internet by Recycler's World (visited Nov. 30, 2000), 〈http://www.recycle.net/Rubber/granule/xv132000.html〉.
38. This may not be the case if new crumb technologies benefit from the use of tire chips as feeder stock. Under these conditions, chip producers might prosper with producers of crumb rubber. See supra text accompanying notes 12 & 14.
39. See WILLIAM SHEEHAN, GEORGIA ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY INSTITUTE, TIRES AND GLASS: MARKETS FOR RURAL GEORGIA 2-7 (1995);
40. David Riggle, Finding Markets for Scrap Tires, BIOCYCLE, March 1994, at 41.
41. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.
42. States indicating the prevalence of inadequate markets in the face of end-use-expanding programs include Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Ohio.
43. See generally SCRAP TIRE MGMT. COUNCIL, supra note 2. Cement kilns are typically able to use whole tires because of their size and the manner in which fuels and materials move through them. The chemical process within a kiln makes use of the energy content of the rubber and the iron content of the steel belts and beads; therefore, whole tire use in a cement kiln is economical. See Michael H. Blumenthal & Edward C. Weatherhead, The Use of Scrap Tires in Rotary Cement Kilns, in MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTES: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS 105 (Robert E. Landreth & Paul A. Rebers eds., 1997).
44. See REISMAN, supra note 1, at 30-35.
45. See id.; SCRAP TIRE MGMT. COUNCIL, supra note 2.
46. See generally SHEEHAN, supra note 33; Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Scrap Tire Recovery: An Analysis of Alternatives (Jan. 1998) (unpublished brochure, on file with authors).
47. See generally FED. HIGHWAY ADMIN., supra note 23.
48. For additional details on the various costs and uses of scrap tires, see Mary B. Sikora, Options for Managing and Marketing Scrap Tires, in HANDBOOK OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT 9.129 (Frank Keith ed., 1994).
49. See table 3, infra.
50. Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Utah.
51. Connecticut, Idaho, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.
52. Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Iowa, Mass., Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
53. For an overview of state programs, see U.S. ENVTL. PROTECTION AGENCY, supra note 3.
54. A scrap tire manifest is similar to a bill of lading used in most transportation activities.
55. Such assurance canbe provided by comparing the manifest copy held by the scrap tire generator with the copy held by the processor.
56. Visibility in this context refers to the program manager making sure that scrap tire generators, carriers, and processors are aware that the manifest system is actually being used for tracking purposes. The importance of these activities was stressed by Mr. Lon Revall in our personal interviews with him. See Interview with Lon Revall, supra note 7.
57. See table 3, infra.
58. Information obtained from telephone survey. See supra note 6. For a general discussion of the Texas program, see Jane Scheidler, Tire Recycling in Texas-Eliminating Illegal Sites and Developing Markets, in PROCEEDINGS OF WASTECON 1997, at 357 (Solid Waste Ass'n of N. Am., Pub. No. GR-G 0035, 1997).
59. Information obtained from telephone survey. See supra note 6.