Tire Recycling and Market Development
The California Tire Recycling Act authorized CalRecycle to award grants and loans to businesses and public entities for activities that could expand markets for used tires.
The law specifically lists several types of projects:
- Polymer treatment
- Crumb rubber production
- Retreading
- Shredding
- Manufacture of products such as:
- Rubber asphalt
- Playground equipment
- Crash barriers
- Erosion control
- Floor and track surfacing
- Oil spill recovery
- Roofing
- Other environmentally safe applications
Grants are intended to fund research projects, to encourage business development, and to assist local government in implementing collection, outreach, and public education programs.
Five Year Plan
The primary focus of the Five-Year Plan for the Waste Tire Recycling Management Program is to build a sustainable statewide market infrastructure for tire-derived products.
A solid market infrastructure is essential to divert the remaining tires still being landfilled or disposed of illegally.
- Rubberized asphalt concrete (RAC)
- Tire-derived aggregate (TDA) in civil engineering applications
- Rubber mat and cover products
- Development of new tire-derived products
Building strong sustainable markets in California can increase the value of waste tires as a raw material (see Products and Uses).
To inform California’s waste tire regulatory goals, CalRecycle publishes an annual Tire Market and Analysis Report. The report examines California’s waste tire flows and highlights market insights, trends and opportunities for advancing a circular economy.
Recycling Information
- Tire Management Program Hotline. CalRecycle’s Hotline, (866) 896-0600, is available for waste tire information. Callers need to leave their name, phone number, and requests and a tire staff member will return the call.
- Products and Other Uses. Californians use a lot of tires, which can be recycled in California.
- Tire Recycling Options
- California Tire-Derived Product Catalog
Recycling Centers | Coordinators | Associations
- Recycling Centers. To locate a convenient recycling center, call Earth 911 at 1-800-CLEANUP or visit the Earth 911 website.
- Recycling Coordinators. Call CalRecycle at (916) 341-6199 for the name and phone number of your community’s recycling coordinator. You may also contact the Local Assistance staff, your local city hall, or the public works department.
- California Recycling Advocacy Associations. Recycling advocacy associations actively promote the recovery and use of secondary materials. The California Resource Recovery Association, the Northern California Recycling Association, and the Californians Against Waste are three leading California recycling advocacy groups.