City bounces around idea of recycling tires locally

Tire recycling in Springfield is prevalent in a roundabout way.

Most local tires headed for recycling are transported to one of three businesses in the state, according to Missouri Department of Natural Resources officials. Other tires are delivered to out-of-state recycling operations, leading Springfield officials to consider the feasibility of a local recycled tire processor or manufacturer.

Officials involved are optimistic, yet cautious, because discussions are preliminary.

"There is certainly enough product down here to support the processor," said Barbara Lucks, the city's materials recovery and education coordinator. "The question is the market for the end processed/recycled tire."

Dan Fester, chief of the waste tire unit in Missouri's DNR Solid Waste Management Program, finds more to question. Fester is uncertain whether the state could support a fourth large rubber recycling processor.

"Right now, these three major processors actually have enough capacity to take tires from elsewhere," he said from his Jefferson City office. "I can't really say if it would be worthwhile to start another one in that area."

Since transporting the tires can be cost-prohibitive for tire dealers and those storing tires, a processor in closer proximity to Springfield makes sense, said Randy Bradley, environmental specialist with the DNR's southwest regional office.

Missouri's big three

The closest of the three large processors is Welch Products Inc. in Macon. The other two are Tire Shredders Unlimited in High Ridge and Alternative Fuel Source in Odessa.

"The recycling facilities that we have are so far away, haulers find it not to be cost-effective," Bradley said. "A large portion of (local) tires goes to tire monofills in southeastern Kansas."

The state of Kansas permits tire monofills landfills that only accept tires and Missouri does not, he said.

Tire haulers in Kansas also are picking up jobs in Springfield and southwest Missouri due to a lack of local haulers. Bradley said a licensed tire hauler does not exist in Greene County, and the closest one to Springfield is in northern Polk County.

Concordia, Kan.-based Champlin Tire Recycling makes weekly trips to Springfield's GL Moore Tire Center to collect the tire dealer's used tires. Mark Moore of GL Moore said the shop accumulates about 150 used tires each week. Champlin hauls the old tires to its Kansas plant, where the rubber gets processed into recycled products.

Moore said he gets calls from several Kansas companies looking to pick up his old tires.

"Somebody's got it figured out to why they're doing that (in Kansas) and we're not doing it in Missouri," Moore said. "I've always asked myself that."

With such established routes and business plans, Fester again has doubts: "I don't know if it's economically feasible when you've got established markets and established processors, and a network of haulers who are delivering tires to these processors."

Processor vs. manufacturer

Bradley, who is involved with the DNR's Waste Tire Program, thinks the area might work for a recycled rubber manufacturer because it could expand the market beyond the region and into neighboring states. "Southwest Missouri would be a fairly good location because we have four states right here," he said. "It would provide quite a population to cover."

However, Bradley feels a processor landing in the area is more likely.

"If you're going to have a manufacturer, you have to have the market," he said. "I definitely would like to see a market here, but I think what you're more likely to see would be a processor."

Danny Buck has approached Bradley with interest in establishing a rubber processing plant in Springfield. Bradley said Buck already has backing from investors and is eyeing a location on East Kearney. Buck also is working on purchasing a used tire shredder from a Canadian company.

"I don't know if he's going to be successful or not," Bradley said, adding that he advised Buck to get an economic analysis for the proposed business to see if it could compete with the state's other processors. Buck could not be reached for comment.

Lucrative rubber recycling

According to a U.S. Recycling Economic Information Study, the nation has more than 56,000 recycling and reused facilities, employing more than 1.1 million people. Those payrolls total $37 billion and businesses gross more than $236 billion in annual receipts, the study showed. Springfield officials would like some of that business in the form of tire recycling.

"We would welcome a legitimate tire recycling operation in southwest Missouri," Lucks said. "But we understand there has to be a good chance of an existing or potential market before anyone would want to be making that type of investment."

Existing markets include tire-derived fuel the No. 1 use of rubber waste in Missouri crumb rubber uses like playground mulch and surfaces, tire mats, and outdoor rubber equipment.

To get a feel for the local market, Lucks informally surveyed about 25 local tire dealer owners this month, asking if they would consider accepting used tires from the general public for recycling purposes. Since tire dealers already contract haulers to transport their used tires to processors, she expects most to comply. Early responses show six dealers agreeing to it, Lucks said.

GL Moore Tire Center is one. "We'd love to entertain the idea of doing that," co-owner Moore said. "The main reason in doing it is to clean things up."

And to develop a market that does not exist right now, Lucks added.

"I think ... part of the challenge is to develop those markets and find uses in the southwest Missouri region," Lucks said. "That recycling symbol is not a chasing arrow by accident, because it takes the supply, and it takes processing and then it takes a market for the product. It has to all fall in place at the same time in order to make it feasible for a business to enter into something like that."

The city of Bolivar has helped to establish that market, she said, because it recently received a $10,000 grant from the Missouri DNR to purchase waste tire material for playground cover.

A DNR news release said the state issued $65,000 in grants to seven cities, schools and community-based programs for purchasing waste tire materials. The grants are partially funded by the 50-cent fee collected from retail purchases of new tires in the state.

The tire issue was initially brought up in an Aug. 26 City Council meeting. Council is considering a bill to place tire-storage restrictions on city businesses because standing water inside tires is a breeding ground for mosquitoes that can carry the deadly West Nile virus. The bill, which will be decided Sept. 23, proposes that tires stored outdoors must be covered or sprayed to hinder mosquito growth.