Every year, individuals and corporations scrap, replace, or dump about 1 billion tires worldwide. In 2017, the United States generated 249.4 million scrap tires alone. In the coming years, this number will grow, thanks to economic improvements in developing countries and cheaper vehicles.
Unfortunately, Tires aren’t easy to dispose of. Depending on the type, they can take more than 80 years to decompose.
Enter tire shredding and recycling. This relatively new practice has made a significant impact on scrap tires worldwide. In fact, between 1990 and 2015, tire recycling helped reduce an excess of 1 billion scrap tires to about 67 million.
What is tire shredding and recycling?
Tire shredding prepares scrap tires for disposal and/or recycling. It also gives businesses the opportunity to make money off of their rubber scrap, rather than pay someone else to remove and dispose of it.
In addition, tire shredding and recycling provides an affordable and effective way to manage scrap rubber of all types, including off-the-road (OTR) tires, or otherwise known as mining tires. It also helps reduce rubber waste as a whole and encourages sustainability.
How does tire shredding and recycling help the environment?
In many places, it’s illegal to dispose of scrap tires by burying them or tossing them in a landfill. Before dumping, most states require individuals and businesses to shred tires into chips or strips of various sizes.
To save money and cut corners, many businesses leave their scrap tires on public land. This is because it’s legal to dispose of solid waste on government-owned property. Many times, these large piles of scrap tires sit unprocessed for decades. This poses a serious fire safety threat and provides homes for mosquitoes and other pests to breed.
Many old tires also contain heavy metals and chemicals. As the tires break down, these metals and chemicals leach into the ground and enter the water supply. Tire shredding and recycling significantly decreases the risk of these problems and helps prevent overcrowding at landfills.
What types of tires can be shredded and recycled?
Thanks to modern technology and machinery, it’s possible to shred and recycle almost any type of tire, including OTRs (Mining Tires). Experts say Mining Tires represent only about 1% of the tire industry in unit volume, but they account for 15-20% in total weight.
Mining Tires can range from 300 to 14,000 pounds. They’re also packed with steel belts and wire beads which can make shredding difficult. Difficult, but not impossible.
Our Eco Extractor 63 is a machine capable of removing clean steel beads from the largest tires on earth. It features a proprietary design that allows one person to control it remotely, making it the fastest and safest way to mine tire beads period.
Our Eco Razor 63 unit also makes recycling mining tires possible. This machine utilizes patent-pending technology to remove valuable rubber from all sides of a tire. Afterward, you can process, package, and resell it. Or, you can convert quality rubber into other useful products such as water tanks or tire-derived fuel (TDF).
Why should I choose ECO Green for my tire shredding and recycling needs?
When it comes to tire shredding and recycling, we know you have hundreds of options to choose from. That said, very few of our competitors possess the same knowledge, experience, or expertise.
As the tire industry grows, so too does the need for efficient and affordable processing technologies.
Here at ECO Green, provide our customers with cutting-edge tire recycling equipment as well as comprehensive secondary market knowledge. These two factors help our clients’ thrive in today’s ever-changing marketplace.
To learn more about our low production costs, state-of-the-art equipment, and leading customer service, we encourage you to get in touch today. Call (801) 505-6841 or click here to fill out an online contact form. We look forward to serving you.
Sources:
- https://www.thebalancesmb.com/the-importance-of-tire-recycling-2878127
- https://www.michigan.gov/documents/egle/EGLE-MMD-PART-169-SCRAP-TIRE-2020-MARKET-STUDY_707770_7.pdf
- https://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/17/sobering-statistics-how-long-will-it-take-for-your-car-to-decom/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_recycling
- https://www.recyclingtoday.com/article/land-of-the-giants/
- https://ecogreenequipment.com/equipment/eco-razor-63/
- https://ecogreenequipment.com/equipment/eco-extractor-63/
