PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. —
For more than 20 years, Florida Tire Recycling has collected and chopped up waste tires, making recycled rubber available for use in athletic fields, carpets and more.
Now with its Closed-Loop Product Lifecycle Solution program, the company is recycling all materials from tires, including the rubber, carbon steel reinforcement belting and synthetic nylon and polyester fiber cord.
Florida Tire Recycling mainly recovers tires from about 2,000 repair shops throughout Florida, and also takes tire drop-offs. The tires are ground up and turned into rubber crumb and powder.
Manufacturers buy up the crumb and powder, which can be turned into carpet backing, turf on athletic fields, playground materials, rubberized asphalt, roofing and more. Some of the recycled rubber also goes to tire-derived fuel, a process that burns tires to provide energy.
While demand for recycled rubber has grown and stayed strong, said Florida Tire Recycling's Jacqueline Wilson, the supply side has dipped. The company's tire collections are 15-20 percent lower than they were a year ago, mostly due consumers and companies replacing fewer tires or buying more used tires.
Rubber crumb - photo courtesy Florida Tire Recycling