USTMA, TIA: Tire Recycling Foundation is an ambitious launch for a challenging era

ATLANTA—With about 944 million illegal tires left to clean up and another 56 million left to recycle, there is no resting on past accomplishments for the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association and the Tire Industry Association.

As such, the USTMA, TIA and 11 other major players in the scrap tire recycling space on May 15 announced the formation of the Tire Recycling Foundation, a seminal advocacy tool for pushing 100-percent tire circularity.

Among other charges, the foundation's mission is to "incentivize market development and advance federal regulations that foster sustainable scrap tire marketings."

"For the past 30 years, USTMA has advocated for sustainable end-of-life-tire management, but more work remains with only 71 percent currently recycled," Anne Forristall Luke, president and CEO of USTMA, told Rubber News during the Tire Recycling Conference, conducted May 15-17 in Atlanta. "Through the foundation and collaboration with our newly appointed board of directors, comprised of manufacturers, dealers, recyclers and transportation experts, we're confident we can advance our goal of 100-percent circularity."

It's an enormous task, even for North America's largest industry groups, in lowering the ratio of tires generated to tire re-usage.

According to the USTMA's 2021 Scrap Tire Report (the next report is set to be issued by the USTMA later this year), more than 5 million tons of EOL tires were generated in 2021, with about 71 percent beneficially used in ELT end markets—such as tire-derived fuel, tire-derived aggregate and raw material for civil engineering projects.

However, only about 28 percent of ELTs were recycled into new products, such as other automotive products or rubber mats for industrial and agricultural use, according to the USTMA.

And while tire-derived fuel usage (namely for cement kilns and pulp and paper manufacturing) dropped 15 percent between the 2019 Scrap Tire Report and the 2021 report, ground rubber (of all sizes, from aggregate to finely ground) is trending the other way.

This put rubber-modified asphalt, which incorporates ground rubber, squarely in the spotlight at the Tire Recycling Conference.

While RMA may be the ELT avenue with the greatest advocacy, it represented only 10 percent of end usage for ground rubber in the 2021 report, with 34 percent going to molded and extruded rubber products; 28 percent going to loose mulch; and another 22 percent of ground rubber going to sports surfaces.

To drive this end use and many others, the new Tire Recycling Foundation will secure funding and allocate grants for research, education, intervention and demonstration projects "targeting critical knowledge and research gaps within the U.S. tire recycling supply chain," Forristall Luke said.

"The Tire Recycling Foundation is something that will help everybody in this room and beyond," she said. "This is going to be a major catalyst for change."

RMA brings performance, economic and environmental advantages to the scrap tire space.

"Rubber-modified asphalt delivers a trifecta of benefits—superior performance, economic efficiency and environmental sustainability," John Sheerin, USTMA's director of end-of-life tire programs, told Rubber News May 15.

The material—ground rubber infused with asphalt—extends pavement life, enhances skid resistance and ride quality, and reduces traffic noise, Sheerin said.

"Perhaps most critically, its use reduces greenhouse gas emissions from improved fuel economy while also curtailing tire wear particle pollution," he said. "RMA represents a truly circular, sustainable solution that the Tire Recycling Foundation, along with our new Board of Directors, is committed to advancing industrywide."

An entire track at this year's Tire Recycling Conference was dedicated to RMA—and the overriding message was the necessity for end-use research for the material.

Roads, highways and airfield surfaces remain some of the most daunting and massive infrastructure undertakings.

While the USTMA is hitching its scrap tire end-use wagon to RMA, the organization and its major tire manufacturing members are keeping all options for end-use markets open.

RMA has not been universally adopted since "State of Knowledge of RMA" was released by the USTMA in May 2021, according to the USTMA, though the material has been used more extensively in California, Kentucky and New York.

"That is the No. 1 area we have focused on is RMA," Sheerin said. "RMA is substantially more processed (than tire-derived aggregate) and well-defined applications for RMA center around ground rubber that is the size of sugar grains. The fabric is removed and the steel is removed."

The ground rubber market has increased by 29 percent since 2019, and RMA appears to be the scrap tire end-use market with the most potential.

Molded and extruded products (also using ground rubber) increased by 25 percent and ate up 485,000 tons of scrap tires, according to the 2021 USTMA report. This includes an uptick in products like rubber mats and flooring.

Rubber mulch consumed 391,000 tons of end-of-life tires, an end-market increase of 54 percent over 2019. The USTMA attributes this rise to home renovations and facility improvements during COVID shutdowns.

Fine ground rubber, used in new tires, coating, sealants and other exports, took away another 79,000 tons of scrap tires for a more sustainable use.

And RMA consumed about 141,000 tons of scrap tires in 2021.

The newly established Tire Recycling Foundation Board of Directors has ambitious research and fundraising initiatives, eyeing a fundraising coffer of $300,000 by 2025 and between $2 million and $3 million by 2026, TIA CEO Dick Gust told Rubber News in Atlanta.

"With this funding, we can conduct vital research and projects to address knowledge gaps and advance tire circularity," said Gust, one of the 13 inaugural Board of Directors for the new foundation.

In addition to Forristall Luke and Gust, inaugural directors of the foundation include:

• John Baldwin, chief product and technical specialist for Tire Rack and Discount Tire;
• Greg Bell, president of Tire Pros and American Tire Distributors;
• Thomas Boehme, CEO and president of Genan Inc.;
• Olivier Brauen, vice president, circularity solutions and business transformation, for Michelin;
• Art Dodge, CEO and president of Ecore International;
• Allie Kelly, executive director of The Ray;
• Maureen Kline, vice president, public affairs and sustainability, for Pirelli Tire L.L.C.;
• Nicolas Nicolaou, vice president, end-of-life tire solutions and sustainability, for the U.S. Auto Force;
• Andy Thompson, global director of sustainability policy for Bridgestone;
• Meri Beth Wojtazek, deputy executive director of SWANA; and
• Thomas Womble, CEO of Liberty Tire Recycling.

"By championing innovative research and demonstration projects in emerging markets like rubber-modified asphalt and micronized rubber powder, we are paving the way for a more sustainable future," Forristall Luke said. "Through collaboration with stakeholders across sectors, from regulators to environmental advocates, the Tire Recycling Foundation is driving impactful solutions that benefit the tire recycling value chain and the environment."

Gust added that the foundation already has applied for a grant from the U.S. EPA for environmental product declaration and anticipates other grants being sought in the near future.

The TRF will be fully operational by 2026, Gust said.

"This is a focused initiative that enhances tire recycling research, infrastructure and technologies. This is indeed an ambitious era as we launch this critical initiative," he said. "You wouldn't be here if you did not share our passion for the tire recycling foundation."