The Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) has applauded the market-based approach to scrap tyre management which they say is a success and say it should continue to be a model for state action.
RMA is participating in a scrap tyre forum at the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). Other stakeholders at the forum will urge DEEP to consider a higher cost, less effective effort to manage scrap tyres.
National data collect by RMA shows dramatic improvement in scrap tyre stockpile clean up and in scrap tyre reuse. In 1990, more than one billion tyres were stockpiled across the nation while only 10 percent of tyres were consumed in end use markets. By 2013, 96 percent of scrap tyres were sent to end use markets and only 75 million tyres remain in stockpiles.
RMA announced at the forum that it will work with Connecticut legislators and regulators to assess Connecticut’s scrap tyre concerns and work to advocate a scrap tyre management program to address those concerns. RMA has worked with dozens of states over the past 25 years to develop, advocate and implement effective state scrap tyre management programs.
Connecticut generates about 3.5 million scrap tyres annually. Nearly all are exported to end use markets in other states. “The free market approach to scrap tyre management has produced a phenomenal environmental success story across the U.S.,” said Dan Zielinski, RMA senior vice president, public affairs.
“Crafting a new approach that is vastly different than existing state programs and that introduces more bureaucracy, cost and inefficiency would be counterproductive.”
RMA advocates a multipart approach to scrap tyre management that includes a dedicated, time-limited funding source, typically a fee imposed on the sale of new tyres; a system to track scrap tyres from generation to end-use market; enforcement of scrap tyre regulations; clean-up of stockpiles; and market development.
A forum to discuss scrap tyre management issues will be held in Hartford on January 21-22 at the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. RMA is participating in the program, which is co-sponsored by the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI). PSI opposes the market-driven approach to scrap tyre management despite the vast success this system has achieved.
“Tyre manufacturers have worked across the nation to help establish effective state scrap tyre management programs, often funded by user fees on tyre sales, to enforce regulations, clean up tyre piles and promote environmentally sound, cost-effective markets for scrap tyres,” Zielinski said.
“The numbers tell the story: the effort is paying off in a cleaner environment.”