Stack of Five Monster Truck Tires

EPA Resources

Comprehensive Procurement Guideline (CPG) Program
This program is part of EPA’s continuing effort to promote the use of materials recovered from solid waste. Buying recycled-content products ensures that the materials collected in recycling programs will be used again in the manufacture of new products.

The 2007 Buy-Recycled Series: Vehicular Products fact sheet (8 pp, 455K, About PDF) provides additional information on purchasing retread tires.

The site also includes EPA’s current list of designated products and the accompanying recycled-content recommendations. In order to find out what products can be made from recovered scrap rubber, review the appropriate product guidelines such as floor tiles, patio blocks, playground surfaces, running tracks, and retreaded tires. More products containing recycled rubber may be designated in the future.

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP)
EPA’s EPP website serves as a clearinghouse of information and tools to facilitate Federal agencies’ purchases of environmentally preferable products and services. Businesses, non-profit organizations, and state and local government agencies also have an interest in environmentally preferable products. This website includes an online searchable database of environmental information for environmentally preferable products including tires and products made from recycled tires.

Product Stewardship/Extended Product Responsibility
Product stewardship is a product-centered approach to environmental protection. Also known as extended product responsibility (EPR), product stewardship calls on those in the product life cycle—manufacturers, retailers, users, and disposers—to share responsibility for reducing the environmental impacts of products, including vehicles.

Superfund
Through this website, users may search for Superfund National Priority List (NPL) sites in the United States, such as the Rhinehart Tire Fire Dump Site in Virginia. EPA Regional offices also have detailed information on Superfund site remediations in their areas, (for example, Region 3). States may also have information on clean-up programs being handled at the state or local level.

Superfund Emergency Response Program
Tire fires can be particularly challenging because they are very hard to control and extinguish. Responders must cope with threats of contamination from a variety of harmful substances through multiple pathways, including releases into the air, soil, and water, as well as the fire itself. This website provides information EPA’s Emergency Response Program and details the many hazards associated with tire fires.

State Resources

Many state solid waste departments address scrap tire management and recovery through their websites. The following websites are particularly extensive or contain unique information:

For additional links to state scrap tire management programs and information, visit Where You Live.

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Organizations

Bureau of International Recycling (BIR)
BIR is an international trade federation representing the world’s recycling industry. This site contains information on the Basel Convention, an international agreement that affects the import and export of scrap materials and waste, including rubber and tires.

Portland Cement Association
The Portland Cement Association represents cement companies in the United States and Canada. It conducts market development, engineering, research, education, and public affairs programs.

Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI)
ISRI is the trade association of the scrap processing and recycling industry. It represents 1,300 companies that process and use scrap commodities, including metals, paper, plastics, glass, rubber, and textiles.

Los Angeles Rubberized Asphalt Concrete Technology Center (RACTC)
A cooperative effort by the County of Los Angeles, County of Sacramento and the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to promote the use of crumb rubber from scrap tires in roadway rehabilitation projects by providing education, training and consultation services to local agencies within California. This program is funded by CalRecycle in an effort to reduce the state’s stockpile of scrap tires and help conserve the state’s landfills.

National Automotive Environmental Compliance Assistance Center
This website is designed to help persons engaged in automotive service, collision repair, and other sectors of the automotive industry achieve compliance with environmental requirements. The site includes information on scrap tire disposal.

National Compliance Assistance Center for Automotive Recyclers
A cooperative effort between the Automotive Recyclers Association and the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences to provide detailed information about the environmental rules that apply to automotive recycling facilities. The site includes information on scrap tire disposal by state.

North American Recycled Rubber Association
The North American Recycled Rubber Association was created to bring together the various stakeholders affiliated with the recycled rubber industry, including haulers, processors, manufacturers, distributors, dealers, government representatives, consultants, and members of other Associations or Councils.

Northeast Recycling Council (NERC)
NERC’s mission is to minimize the amount of materials requiring disposal by promoting the environmental and economic benefits of recycling and source reduction in the Northeast. Recycling and source reduction include reuse, remanufacture, composting, and any other activity that decreases the amount and toxicity of material in the solid waste stream requiring disposal.

Cement Kiln Recycling Coalition
The Cement Kiln Recycling Coalition (CKRC) is a trade association which represents US cement companies currently using waste-derived fuels, as well as those companies involved in the collection, processing, management, and marketing of such fuels for use in cement kilns.

Rubber Division of American Chemical Society
The Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society Inc. promotes efficient and environmentally appropriate systems for the life cycle of rubber products including tires. This website contains information on rubber recycling, technical meetings, and links to related topics.

Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA)
RMA represents companies that manufacture and use rubber. Through its scrap tire program, the RMA works to develop markets for newly generated scrap tires through collection and dissemination of information on scrap tire research. The council also acts as a legislative and regulatory liaison. The RMA website contains extensive information on scrap tire management and markets, including their Recycled Rubber Products Catalog.

Rubber Pavements Association
The Rubber Pavements Association is dedicated to encouraging greater usage of high quality, cost-effective asphalt pavements containing recycled tire rubber.

Rubberized Asphalt Concrete Technology Center (RACTC)
The center researches ways to advance the use of crumb rubber in paving applications. Headquartered in Los Angeles, this center has become a one-stop technical and educational clearinghouse for local California governmental agencies curious about using rubberized asphalt in road projects. The site contains detailed and extensive information on crumb rubber utilization in highway and road applications.

Tire Industry Association (TIA)
TIA is an international association representing all segments of the tire industry, including those that manufacture, repair, recycle, sell, service or use new or retreaded tires, and also those suppliers or individuals who furnish equipment, material or services to the industry.

Tire Retread Information Bureau (TRIB)
TRIB is a primary source for information about tire retreading and repairing. TRIB is a nonprofit, member supported industry association with international membership. Its goal is to provide the motoring public (both in the private and public sectors) with the most up-to-date information about the economic and environmental benefits of tire retreading and tire repairing.

General Resources

Recycler’s World
The Tire and Rubber Recycling Section of Recycler’s World provides information on companies, associations, and publications related to the tire and rubber recycling industry. More detailed links to these resources can be found within each specific category.

Rubber Room
The Rubber Room website was established to promote trade in the rubber industry.

Scrap Tire News
Scrap Tire News is a monthly publication devoted to providing news and information about tire and rubber recycling. The site also contains information on state scrap tire regulations and programs.

Automotive-Related Resources

Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA)
Provides information on automotive recycling, including recycling statistics and compliance information.

Environmental Compliance for Automotive Recyclers (ECAR)
Provides a state-by-state breakdown of the requirements that apply specifically to the automotive recycling and salvage industries.