US Tire Recycling Process: From Collection to Finished Product

By:     Kieran Donnelly

The United States generates approximately 290 million scrap tires every year. That works out to roughly one tire per person per year, every year, without interruption. The country has made substantial progress in managing this volume: the Rubber Manufacturers Association estimated that more than 80% of US scrap tires were beneficially used or recycled in recent years, compared to less than 10% in the early 1990s. But understanding what “beneficially used” actually means, and what the tire goes through to get from a rim in a tire shop to its eventual end application, requires following the full processing chain.

This article covers the complete US tire recycling process from the point of collection through each main processing route to the finished product. For operators considering entry into tire recycling, it provides the technical context needed to understand where different equipment types fit in the chain and which processing routes are accessible at different investment levels.

Stage 1: Collection and Aggregation

The US tire waste stream originates at tire generators: tire shops, car dealerships, auto repair centers, fleet maintenance facilities, and, in smaller numbers, individuals. A tire generator produces waste tires as a byproduct of their core activity, and the regulatory obligation to properly document and transfer those tires creates the market for waste tire collection services.

Waste tire collectors operate under state-issued waste tire carrier permits and collect tires from generators on a scheduled basis, charging a gate fee per tire that reflects the collector’s cost of transport plus a margin. The gate fee varies by tire category: passenger car tires typically command $0.50 to $1.50 per tire; commercial truck tires $3 to $8 per tire; OTR tires $20 to $300 or more depending on size. The collector aggregates tires into loads and delivers them to licensed processing facilities.

Consolidation points, including municipal transfer stations and tire dealer holding areas, act as intermediate aggregation locations that reduce collection route costs by allowing collectors to pick up combined loads from a single location rather than multiple small-volume stops. State tire programs in many states fund or facilitate consolidation infrastructure as part of their waste tire management programs.

Stage 2: Processing Facility Intake and Sorting

At a licensed tire processing facility, incoming tires are weighed, counted, and sorted by category. Sorting separates passenger car tires from commercial truck tires, OTR and agricultural tires, and any unusual categories such as solid-fill or foam-filled tires that require different processing approaches. Tires with steel rims attached are separated for rim removal before processing. This sorting step determines which processing pathway each tire enters.

Stage 3A: Tire Baling

Tire baling is the most capital-efficient processing route for passenger and light truck tires, and for commercial truck tires when preceded by sidewall cutting. A tire baler compresses whole tires under hydraulic pressure and secures the compressed bale with wire ties, producing a dense, stable unit typically measuring approximately 63 by 47 by 28 inches and weighing 900 to 1,100 pounds for a standard car tire bale.

The Gradeall MKII Tire Baler is designed to produce bales meeting international PAS 108 civil engineering specification, with a throughput of up to 80 car tires per hour. For commercial truck tires, the Gradeall Truck Tire Sidewall Cutter provides the pre-processing step that makes consistent truck tire baling achievable.

Tire bales go from the processing facility to three main US markets: tire-derived fuel (TDF) buyers at cement kilns, pulp mills, and industrial boilers; civil engineering applications where bales are used as structural fill and retaining elements; and export to international markets in Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia where bale demand exceeds local processing supply.

Stage 3B: Shredding and Granulation

Shredding transforms whole tires into chips, typically 2 inches minus, using primary shredders with counter-rotating cutting shafts. The chips are the feedstock for secondary processing or direct sale to TDF buyers. Secondary processing through granulators and crumb rubber mills further reduces chip size to 10 mesh, 20 mesh, or finer crumb rubber particles while magnetic separation removes the steel wire content and fiber separation removes the textile components of the tire carcass.

Crumb rubber at 10 to 40 mesh is the output of a full granulation line. US markets for crumb rubber include synthetic turf infill for athletic fields and playgrounds, molded rubber products (flooring tiles, parking bumpers, equipment mats), asphalt rubber modification for road paving, and devulcanized rubber feedstock for further compounding. Crumb rubber commands significantly higher per-ton prices than TDF bale material, but the capital and operating cost of the granulation line is also substantially higher.

Stage 3C: Pyrolysis and Advanced Thermal Processing

Pyrolysis processes whole tires or shredded chips in a low-oxygen or oxygen-free thermal environment, breaking down the rubber polymers into pyrolysis oil (used as a fuel or chemical feedstock), carbon black (usable as a reinforcing agent), steel wire, and pyrolysis gas (used as process fuel). Pyrolysis is at the technology maturity frontier of US tire recycling, with several commercial-scale operations running and more in development. The economics depend heavily on the price of oil and the quality grade of the pyrolysis oil and carbon black achieved.

For operators building toward any processing route, the Gradeall tyre recycling equipment range provides the collection, pre-processing, and baling equipment that anchors the early stages of any tire recycling operation, regardless of the eventual downstream processing pathway.

 Stage 4: End Product Markets

Tire-derived fuel remains the largest single beneficial use category for US scrap tires, accounting for more than 40% of scrap tire use in recent years. Cement kilns are the largest TDF consumers, burning tire-derived fuel as a supplement to coal and other primary fuels. Crumb rubber accounts for a growing share, driven by synthetic turf installations and asphalt rubber paving programs in western states. Civil engineering applications, while smaller in volume than TDF, represent the highest-value market per ton for well-specified bales.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to process a passenger car tire through a baling line?

A single passenger car tire passes through the baling sequence in approximately 40 to 60 seconds per bale cycle, with each bale containing 8 to 15 car tires depending on size and compression level. At a rated throughput of up to 80 tires per hour on a MKII Tire Baler, the processing time per tire is under a minute when the machine is running at full pace. Loading, cycle initiation, bale ejection, and wire tying are the main time components in each cycle.

Can all tire types be recycled in the United States?

All rubber tire types can be recycled in the US, though the processing route and economics differ significantly by tire category. Passenger and light truck tires have the most developed processing infrastructure. Commercial truck tires require additional pre-processing steps. Agricultural and OTR tires require specialist equipment and generate higher per-tire gate fees reflecting their processing complexity. Solid-fill and polyurethane-filled tires require specialist processing routes not available at all facilities.

What is the difference between tire recycling and tire disposal?

In US regulatory and industry terminology, tire disposal means sending tires to a landfill or burning them in an uncontrolled manner, both of which are restricted or banned under most state waste tire regulations. Tire recycling includes any beneficial use pathway: TDF combustion at regulated facilities, crumb rubber production, civil engineering applications, and export for legitimate recovery uses. The key regulatory distinction is whether the tire material is being used productively rather than discarded.

What quality standards apply to crumb rubber produced from US scrap tires?

Crumb rubber for specific applications is subject to industry specifications rather than federal regulations. Synthetic turf infill crumb rubber is specified by turf manufacturers for particle size, steel content (maximum), fiber content (maximum), and in some applications, specific gravity. Athletic track and playground surface crumb rubber has similar quality specifications. ASTM International has published test standards for crumb rubber properties, and buyers typically specify compliance with these test methods in their supply agreements.

Is tire recycling profitable in the United States?

Yes, for well-designed operations at appropriate scale. The combination of gate fees from tire generators and material sale revenue from processed products creates a dual revenue stream that, when set against collection, processing, and overhead costs, produces positive margins at commercial processing volumes. Profitability depends on local gate fee rates, the downstream markets accessible from the facility’s location, processing efficiency, and equipment utilization. Operations processing 50,000 or more tires per year with established buyer relationships are typically profitable within 18 to 36 months of startup.

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