Dive Brief:
- On May 5, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper announced he will sign a bill into law that will end a state subsidy program that supported tire recyclers and shut down tire landfills, which currently have stockpiled 60 million tires from local and out-of-state haulers.
- The $5.8 million program is expected to come to a close by 2018. Once signed into law, tire landfills cannot accept tires, and the sites will be ordered to remove the tires and close by 2024.
- According to the Denver Post, before 2018, sites that accept tires will only be allowed to accept one tire for every two tires recycled.
Dive Insight:
Some recyclers are warning that the closures could increase illegal tire dumpling, which has become widespread across the state within the past two years. According to the Denver Post, the problem has grown by 10 to 15% in areas such as Colorado Springs during this timeframe. Recyclers question where the current mountains of tires will go: The Denver Post says that the state is storing 60 million of the nation's 100 million scrap tires.
Some companies that own tire sites have been repurposing the materials, selling the scraps as fuel. Other uses include roadways, ground cover for athletic fields and construction materials. With the new law, companies will be forced to find alternative ways to dispose of the massive piles of tires. A new crop of recyclers could emerge to deal with the glut of tires.
