Stockpile Cleanup

Scrap tire stockpiles emerged in the 1960s and 1970s—before recycling markets—when tires were diverted from landfills. These heaps were prone to catastrophic fires that created air and water pollution and harbored disease-carrying mosquitoes and vermin.

Stockpiles quickly accumulated approximately >1 billion scrap tires. National and state remediation efforts aim to eliminate these stockpiles entirely.

Stockpile remediation is a huge environmental success story: Since 1990, states remediated over 94 percent of the known illegal or abandoned scrap tire stockpiles. By the end of 2017, only about 60 million scrap tires remained in U.S. stockpiles.

Most states now have programs to encourage scrap tire markets, enforce existing laws and regulations, and discourage new sites that appear in the wake of failed processor businesses or through illegal dumping.

The bulk of the remaining stockpiles are concentrated in 6 states:

Arkansas*
Colorado*
New Mexico
Pennsylvania*
Texas
Washington*

USTMA continues to work with legislators and regulators in states on programs that will help eliminate their stockpiles.

*have ongoing abatement programs