waste tires are created every year just in the USA
waste tires are trashed every second of every day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year
new waste tire is created every year for every person living in the USA
The Rubber Manufacturers Association says 95% of waste tires are recycled, but what does that mean?
Burning, burying or grinding!
BURNING
TDF sounds much less harmful than burning tires, but the results are the same.
Burning a single tire can produce over two gallons of toxins. Burning 150MM tires pumps millions of tons of greenhouse gases and toxins into our atmosphere.
Accidental tire fires are a known health hazard that release toxic heavy metals into soil and water, but Tire Derived Fuels are okay? There has to be a better way!
BURYING
But buried tires do not decompose. Ever. If they are exposed to wind and rain, tires will eventually crumble, but they will ruin the soil they sit on.
Stored tires are also a perpetual fire risk. Tire fires are notoriously hard to put out and they typically leak toxic heavy metals into the surrounding soil and water table.
And when waste tires collect rain water, they act as a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other pests.
Last, but not least, burying is expensive. Municipalities spend over $750MM/yr burying tires!
GRINDING
As you’d probably guess, grinding up tires is hard work. More than 70 GIGAWATTS of energy is wasted every year grinding up tires. Grinding up just one trailer of tires uses enough energy to power a home for 3 months. And 40,000 trailer loads are processed every year! You could power an average American home for 6,000 years with that much energy!
Just as concerning, a 2014 NBC investigative report presented circumstantial evidence linking the crumb rubber used on sports fields to cancer in young athletes. The EPA is now formally investigating crumb rubber safety.
But that’s not all…
Shockingly, 317,000,000 doesn’t even account for every waste tire created in the USA. As much as 10% of all manufactured tires don’t pass rigorous manufacturing and safety standards. These failed tires are typically classed as industrial waste, not waste tires. But millions of them need to be disposed of every year.
None of these methods are green.
All three waste energy.
All three cost their operators money.
And all three can be toxic to the environment.
PRTI was founded on the belief that there has to be a better way.
Our patented PRTI Thermal DeManufacturing® technology transforms waste tires back into valuable industrial commodities.
PRTI Thermal DeManufacturing® is a near zero waste, revenue positive recycling process that produces oil, carbon, steel and energy.