DISCARDED TIRE RECYCLING PRACTICES IN THE UNITED-STATES, JAPAN AND KOREA

Discarded tires have been a disposal problem and continue to accumulat e throughout the world today. In the United States, in particular, ove r 279 million discarded tires are being added to an estimated 2 billio n tires currently stockpiled around the country. The stockpiled tires provide breeding sites for mosquitoes which can spread diseases and of ten constitute fire hazards. Utilization of discarded tires would mini mize environmental impact and maximize conservation of natural resourc es. Current practice includes retreading, recycling as crumb rubber, a nd combustion for thermal energy. A literature review was made to comp are the discarded tire recycling practices in the United States, Japan and Korea. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. Ail rights reserved.