Tennessee tire recycling projects awarded $2.4 million in grants

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has approved five grants totaling $2.36 million for tire recycling projects throughout the state.

The grants, funded by the state's Tire Environmental Act Program and matched at least in part by the recipients, are:

• Memphis Tire Recyclers L.L.C., $987,827.50 — For to expand its existing operations and create both a porous pavement installation operation as well as an Illegal Tire Dumping Mitigation Department. The company will match the state's funds dollar for dollar.
• Lawrence County, $364,426 — To purchase equipment to improve the county's management of scrap tires, including support for cleaning up illegal tire dump sites across the county and reducing the health risks they create for citizens. Lawrence County will provide matching funds of $91,106.
• Liberty Tire Recycling L.L.C., $500,000 — To purchase equipment to process approximately 10,000 tons of scrap tires annually. Liberty Tire will provide matching funds of $1.14 million.
• University of Tennessee in Knoxville, $350,197 — To be used for research and development into multiple sustainable technologies for the application of tire rubber in road construction. The university will provide matching funds of $512,793 toward the project.
• Blount County, $160,000 — For a pilot road construction project that uses an "innovative" asphalt mix technology in the production of rubber-modified asphalt. Blount County will provide matching funds of $40,000.

Tennessee established the Tire Environmental Fund in 2015. The state assesses a flat fee on all new motor vehicles, based on the number of the vehicle's wheels ($5 for a vehicle with up to four wheels; $10 for a vehicle with more than four but fewer than 11 wheels; and $15 for a vehicle with 11 or more wheels) to be titled and registered in Tennessee.

The state has awarded almost $6.8 million in grants since then in projects that the TDEC estimates have diverted roughly 5.5 million tires, or nearly 58,000 tons of scrap tires, from landfills.

Tires are repurposed for use in rubberized asphalt, tire-derived aggregate, tire-derived fuel, granulated rubber porous flexible pavement, and other beneficial end uses.

Memphis Tire Recyclers—a scrap-tire collection enterprise and generator of tire-derived aggregate, tire-derived fuel and crumb rubber—is committed to eradicating the aesthetic and health issues that are created by illegal dump sites throughout western Tennessee, the TDEC said.

"We are seeing great advances in repurposing tires for environmental benefits, and this grant for Memphis Tire Recyclers is a great example," TDEC Deputy Commissioner Greg Young said. "Programs like this not only help clean up sites of used tires, they involve innovative new uses for them."

Lawrence County, a 618-square-mile county of 44,000 residents on the Alabama border, recycles approximately 1,100 tons of scrap tires annually.

"We are seeing great advances in repurposing tires for environmental benefits, and this grant for Lawrence County is a great example," Young said

To further enhance its efforts, the county will develop a public education campaign through schools and use social media to emphasize the importance of proper disposal of tires, the TDEC said.

Liberty Tire intends to use the funds to install tire shredding equipment that will be able to convert tires into rubber chips that will be suitable for use as either TDF or tire-derived aggregate. Liberty Tire has facilities in Knoxville and Nashville, but didn't indicate which site would get the upgrade.

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville is partnering with the Tennessee Department of Transportation to install a series of rubber-modified pavement test sections using the technologies developed from this project. Benefits of including rubber in asphalt pavement mixes include improved skid resistance, cracking resistance and noise reduction, the TDEC said.

Blount County's pilot will cover a two-mile section of highway that will incorporate approximately 2,400 processed scrap tires into the asphalt mix. The county of 130,000 residents south of Knoxville is hopeful that the project will serve as a tire-recycling model for other Tennessee counties, the TDEC said.