GreenMan sets up new Tennessee facility

LaVERGNE, Tenn. (Feb. 5)—Tire recycling firm GreenMan Technologies Inc. is opening in April a tire grinding facility at an existing plant it is leasing in LaVergne. With an initial capacity of more than 4 million tires annually, the facility will concentrate at first on supplying the tire-derived fuel and civil engineering markets, according to Chuck Coppa, GreenMan chief financial officer. But the pending installation of waste wire processing equipment soon will permit GreenMan to supply crumb rubber from Tennessee, Coppa said. GreenMan's existing Tennessee subsidiaryùParsons, Tenn.-based Technical Tire Recycling Inc.ùsupplies whole tires to cement kilns, but the company's collection of scrap tires in Tennessee now outstrips TTI's capacity to take them, Coppa said. The LaVergne manufacturing plant of Bridgestone/Firestone, a GreenMan customer, also played a role in locating the new facility in LaVergne, he said.