Resource recovery from used rubber tires

Including car, truck, bus, and airplane tires, 266 million tires were scrap ped in the US in 1996 (Scrap Tire Management Council (STMC), 1997). More th an three-quarters of these tires were used as fuel, recycled for material a pplications, or exported. The remainder accumulates in junkyards or landfil ls where they pose a fire hazard and provide a breeding ground for disease carrying rodents and insects. Using information on scrap tire composition a nd the current markets using them, we examine the technologies used to reco ver their value either for energy or as rubber. As the majority of scrap ti res are used as fuel, we calculate their life cycle energy budget consideri ng both the energy consumed for tire production and the energy recovered fr om their use as fuel. Based on our findings, we draw some preliminary concl usions on how to maximize value recovery from this ubiquitous artifact of i ndustrial societies. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.