TIA supports RMA in tyre fuel debate

ERJ staff report (TB)

Bowie, Maryland -- The Tire Industry Association (TIA) has joined the Rubber Manufacturers Association in saying the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed scrap tyre rule will have a negative effect on tyre recycling.

The association said the rule, which would classify scrap tyres as waste, means facilities burning tyre-derived fuel (TDF) would be regulated under the far more stringent Section 129 emissions regulations in the Clean Air Act, and they will have to revamp or replace current combustion units.

TIA said it believes most of these facilities would choose to reject TDF and other secondary materials that the EPA is proposing to label as solid waste, and just burn traditional fuels, instead. The rule may also identify off-spec used oil as “solid waste,” with the same implications for its use as a fuel.

“Restricting the TDF applications will change the economic balance for all tyre material and could potentially create the situation we faced in previous years, where many more tyres were disposed of in landfills,” said Dick Gust, past president of TIA, as well as current president of national account sales for Liberty Tire Recycling and a co-chair of TIA's Environmental Advisory Council.

Mr. Gust added that TDF is a “very valuable and beneficial market for consuming the millions of tyres that are generated on an annual basis.”

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)

Press release from TIA