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STMC
Finalizing 1998 Market Update
The Scrap Tire Management Council's biennial market report is
expected to show an overall decline in scrap tire recycling and
reuse. As a prelude to its 4th biennial update on scrap tire markets,
Scrap Tire Management Council executive director Michael Blumenthal
noted a nearly 20 percent decline in tire derived fuel markets
(tdf) since 1996. In the same time period, the number of scrap
tires used for civil engineering projects doubled, he said. Blumenthal
previewed the report's findings in a presentation at the annual
Clemson Tire Industry Conference, March 3 in Hilton Head, SC.
Tdf consumed
about 115 million scrap tire units in 1998, Blumenthal said. The
Council's 1996 Scrap Tire Disposal and Reuse study showed 135
million tires being consumed as fuel. The decline in fuel use
meant fewer scrap tires - about 65 percent of the 273 million
generated - were recycled/reused in 1998. This compares with a
national recycling rate of 76 percent two years ago, Blumenthal
said.
The decline
in tdf usage can be attributed to several market factors, according
to Blumenthal. For at least six cement kilns the decision to cease
or reduce their use of tdf was largely economic, he said. Scrap
tires are a cheaper fuel than coal in cement kilns, but they require
more oxygen which slows the production cycle, Blumenthal explained.
During the
last two years, with the cement industry running at capacity,
the need for greater production efficiency outweighed the savings
in fuel costs prompting six kilns to stop burning tdf. Several
others are burning fewer than their permitted capacity for the
same reason, Blumenthal said.
Deregulation
in the utility industry has also contributed to the decline, in
tdf usage, with many older plants closing while others have stopped
using alternative fuel.
Other reasons
for the decline in tdf use include new regulations in the Clean
Air Act Amendment being implemented by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency. On the state level, some scrap tire management
programs have reached expiration ending reimbursement or other
subsidy programs that benefitted tdf markets. Blumenthal cited
the sunset of Wisconsin's reimbursement program in late 1996 as
an example. Under the program, end users of scrap tires or scrap
tire derived materials - such as tdf - received a $20/ton rebate
from the state tire program.
"We're clearly
concerned about the tdf market," Blumenthal said. In the year
ahead, the Council plans to work with current tdf users to help
them deal with the various issues. They also are setting up meetings
with potential users and contacting former tdf users to try and
get them back on line.
In 1998, civil
engineering uses for scrap tires consumed about 20 million tires,
double 1996's total, Blumenthal said. He attributed the growth
in this market to the development of guidelines for civil engineering
construction projects, and the availability of new ASTM (American
Society for Testing and Materials) specifications for civil engineering.
A series of educational and technical seminars launched in 1998
has also been effective in creating a better understanding of
tire derived material in civil engineering applications among
state highway engineers and transportation officials, he said.
Blumenthal
reported no growth in ground rubber markets, estimating the amount
of crumb rubber produced has remained at 480 million pounds -
the same as reported in 1996. However, other industry sources
such as the
1999 Scrap Tire and Rubber
Users Directory , report an approximate 15-20 percent
growth in crumb rubber markets in North America in 1998 - a total
usage of about 612 million pounds
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