Cement producers have recently taken the lead in transforming scrap tires into clean energy to fuel their operations. In 2002, nearly 200 million scrap tires were put to productive use, with most going for fuel. Representing a tenfold increase in waste tire consumption over the past decade, that total attests to the dramatic impact of industry-wide recycling efforts. The Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) estimates that more than 75% of scrap tires are now put to productive use. State cleanup programs and new regulations are reducing existing stockpiles as well, says RMA.

Ironically, the largest consumer of scrap tires — the cement industry — is indirectly responsible, as a party in the creation of our roadways and transportation system, for stimulating tire production. Accordingly, suppliers of cement have demonstrated a high level of interest in waste-processing technologies.

Lafarge North America, Inc., for example, has a wholly owned subsidiary, Systech Environmental Corp., devoted to collecting old tires and burning them as fuel. Lafarge and Systech operate tire-derived fuel programs at five cement plants in the U.S. and Canada, including Atlanta, Ga.; Harleyville, S.C.; Tulsa, Okla.; Whitehall, Pa.; and St. Constant, Quebec. Lafarge S.A., the parent company based in Paris, France, also uses scrap tires for 10 plants in Europe, two in Asia and one in South America.

Lafarge and Systech are helping states and communities solve a problem that has literally been piling up for decades. Posing serious environmental risks, scrap tires are bulky to dispose of in landfills where mosquitoes breed in the water that collects inside them. Large stacks of old tires are a significant fire hazard as well. Several years ago, an illegal tire dump in Philadelphia caught fire under an elevated section of I-95. Damage was so extensive that the highway closed for several months for emergency repairs.

Yet, using scrap tires also makes good sense for Systech and Lafarge. With their high thermal efficiency and low emissions, waste tires help reduce energy consumption. Furthermore, because many cement kilns can use whole tires, shredding is not required before burning the rubber. In addition, steel belts in modern tires — rendering them difficult to recycle in other ways — are actually a bonus for the cement industry. The steel is a necessary raw material for the manufacture of cement, so no waste ash is produced. And, despite popular impressions of smoky, smelly burning rubber, tires burn cleaner than coal.

“It's a win-win for the company and the environment,” says Systech's Bill Spain, project development manager. “A typical tire contains as much energy as 25 pounds of coal, while producing less ash than most coal and less sulfur than bituminous coal. Every tire that we burn means one less tire going into a landfill, less coal coming out of a mine, and fewer pollutants in the air.”