Aside from hazardous waste, tires are probably the single largest disposal problem in the U.S. with over 300 million waste tires produced each year. The problem is what do you do with something that is essentially oil and rubber? The large majority of waste tires (90%) are ground up and either burned for power, used a crumb rubber, or fill for civil engineering projects. While this avoids a trip to the landfill, the grinding process is extremely energy intensive and inefficient and the burning of tires for fuel is terrible for air quality and green house gas emissions.
A Better Tire After-Life
Re-Tread Products Inc. seems to have a found a better a end for tires in their twilight years. They have developed a system that wraps tires into very tight spiral rolls called Tire Logs, or Tire Poles (think Pirouette cookies or a cigar) that they can then use in the place of pressure treated timber and concrete applications such as retaining walls, crash barriers, and utility poles. For the utility pole application, a fiberglass shell incases the pole to give it rigidity and allows the tires to function the same way a chemically treated timber would. The only difference is the the Tire Poll is much more energy absorbent and is inherent rot and pest resistant. As their website states:
“The TIRE LOG began as a concept to develop a safety utility pole from waste tires. The idea was to cut the sidewalls off a tire and then, make a tire strip from the tread material. The strips of tire tread are then tightly wound together in a spiral configuration to make a pole of virtually any diameter or length desired. The TIRE POLE would then be encased in a layer of fiberglass or similar material to make it stiff enough for the desired application. The energy-absorbing properties of the tire material along with its durability and natural resistance to decomposition would make it an excellent substitute for the conventional chemically treated wooden utility pole.”
The beauty of the Tire Log/Pole is in the fact that the manufacturing process uses much less energy than grinding, and it upcycles, an otherwise downcycled, material into extremely useful and necessary applications. Also, the tire-based end product usually can outperform its ‘non-tire’ counterparts. A really smart solution to a multitude of problems that has a positive trickle-down effect in a number of areas.
The Good: Upcycles an otherwise troublesome waste product while at the same time reducing the amount of tires requiring energy intensive downcycling. Upcycled product is usually superior to its non tire-based counterpart. Versatile applications.
The Bad: Relative to the number of waste tires produced every year in the U.S., RTP’s operation is very small.
The Bottom-line: A rare instance where a recycling operation actually upcycles a product and in the process uses less energy while creating a more superior product that serves a multitude of functions. Unfortunately, this process is not yet widespread enough to have a significant impact on the tire waste problem.
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