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Waste Tire Management & Recycling Act

According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), 18 to 20 million waste tires are generated in that state each year. Between August 2003 and May 2004, the state identified 95 sites where an estimated 29 million tires were stored. Because of this, the Waste Tire Management and Recycling Act of 2003 was enacted to achieve five goals: a waste tire management fund, mandatory acceptance of returned tires, abatement of existing stockpiles, cooperation from stockpile owners and a ban on waste tire burial.

  1. Waste Tire Management Fund

    • The act established the Waste Tire Management and Recycling Fund and provided for its income by imposing a $2.50 recycling fee on each tire sold in the state, including those on new vehicles. The act designated all proceeds from this fee and any other revenues collected due to the waste tire act to become part of the fund.

      The recycling fee is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2010, but in January 2010, New York Governor David Paterson proposed the fee be extended.

    Used Tire Return

    • The act makes acceptance of returned tires by customers mandatory for tire service centers in the state. The customers are entitled to return tires of similar size and in the same quantity as those purchased. The tire service centers are also required to post signs about the mandatory return policy.

    Waste Tire Stockpile Abatement

    • The act required a plan be submitted to the governor by September 2004 for the abatement of all existing non-compliant tire stockpiles by the end of calendar year 2010. In November 2009, the DEC reported that 26.5 million tires had been removed; 102 sites, including 12 of the 17 largest dumps identified by the plan, had been completely cleared of tires; 51 additional tire dumps had been discovered and added to the program along with the original 95; and almost all the removed tires had been recycled as road construction materials, landfill liners or for other uses.

    Owner Cooperation

    • The act required that the owners of non-compliant waste tire stockpiles submit to or cooperate with any remedial measures deemed necessary for waste tire abatement by the DEC.

    Land Burial Ban

    • Waste tires are used in rubberized asphalt concrete (RAC).

      The act established a ban on the land burial of waste tires and prohibited the use of any money from the Waste Tire Management and Recycling Fund for burying any waste tires in a landfill without DEC's approval.

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