FAQs about waste tires and the tire business:
ARE TIRES EASY TO SHRED… … … .Tires are one of the most difficult wastes to shred and process. They contain two opposite ingredients, rigid steel and flexible rubber. The bead steel is high carbon steel and in some larger tires is harder than the knives that cut them. The rubber is securely bonded to the bead steel and must be ripped from the wire.
ARE INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES EAGER TO HAVE THEIR WASTE TIRES PROCESSED… ..Generally speaking no, they are reluctant to do so because of the cost so they normally require some regulatory pressure or financial incentives to bring them to a recycling facility.
DO WASTE TIRES ARRIVE AT A RECYCLING FACILITY IN A REASONABLY CLEAN CONDITION… ..In addition to the usual accumulation of dirt, rocks or water, it is not uncommon to find that tires contain steel scrap, shop tools, garbage, animal dung, live cats and kittens, skunks, woodchucks, raccoons, poisonous snakes and other unpleasant living creatures. And even some rare experiences of occasionally shredding live rifle and shotgun ammunition in addition to the rest of the above items.
DOES THE WASTE DISPOSAL FEE PAID TO THE TIRE DEALER GO TO THE WASTE TIRE PROCESSOR AT TIME OF DELIVERY… ..No, in the normal competitive market place the tire dealer pays the waste tire hauler approximately one third to one half of what he receives for disposal. The rest is his.
DO THE GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES FOR RECYCLING WASTE TIRES GO TO THE PROCESSOR… ..Unfortunately, the subsidies usually go to the end user of the recycled product, NOT to the processor. The waste tire processor, who actually does the recycling, is caught between the dealers profit on the disposal fee and the subsidies to the end user of the recycled product.