Ford Recycles Recalled Firestone Tires

When Ford Motor Co. recalled 13 million Firestone tires last May, the company promised to recycle the tires rather than landfilling or burning them.

Ford contracted with Recovery Technologies Group Inc. (Guttenburg, NJ) to recycle the tires. So far, RTC has turned 3.6 million of the recalled tires into 40 million tons of crumb rubber to be used in projects around the country like athletic fields, playgrounds and paving projects. 50 miles of road in Phoenix, Arizona is now paved with rubberized asphalt containing 1 million pounds of crumb rubber.

Only four states — Arizona, California, Florida and Texas — use significant amounts of rubberized asphalt to pave roads, even though this could be a huge market. Byron Lord, deputy director of the office of pavement technology for the Federal Highway Administration, said Ford’s promotion of crumb rubber “will provide a boost to the technology as well as allow states to evaluate its value in asphalt pavements.”

RTG’s Ford contract has also led to its expansion as a company, opening three new facilities since taking on the deal.

Recycling contributes 2.7 percent to gross domestic product
This is what a recent National Recycling Coalition study found. Fiber, steel, plastic converters, and iron and steel foundries contribute $139 billion, more than half of the recycling and reuse industry economy. The reuse and remanufacturing industry contributes $14 billion to the economy.
According to the study, recycling generates a payroll of $37 billion and grosses $236 billion in revenue annually.

Source: Waste News: www.wastenews.com