Tire recyclers get $3 million financial boost

The California Integrated Waste Management Board awarded loans to Golden By-Products of Merced County and Bulldog Rubber and Recycling of San Diego County to help expand their businesses and create 19 new jobs recycling waste tires.

The tire equipment loan program is designed to help tire recyclers purchase new or updated equipment, enabling them to improve their recycling processes and increase the number of waste tires they recycle into new, premium-value tire-derived products. It is anticipated that almost 1.8 million tires will be diverted away from California landfills annually as a result of these two loans.

Golden By-Products expects to divert an additional 7,500 tons of waste tires annually, while Bulldog Rubber and Recycling will find new uses for 13,000 tons of waste tires annually.

California generates an estimated 44 million waste tires per year. Approximately 32 million waste tires (or 73 percent) are diverted through reuse or new products while the remaining 12 million (about 27 percent) are sent to landfills.

Funding for the loan program comes from the Tire Recycling Management Fund for the 2009/10 fiscal year. The tire funds come from the $1.75 recycling fee levied on each new tire sold in California. The board receives $1.00 of each $1.75 fee, and a portion of the revenue pays for tire grant programs. The remainder is used for tire-related air quality programs by the California Air Resources Board. The Tire Recycling Fund is administered by the board and can only be used for tire program purposes.

Golden By-Products, Inc. dba Scrap Tire Company will use proceeds of a $1 million loan to expand its tire processing business and purchase upgraded equipment, including a second granulator to improve the overall efficiency and output of the existing tire shredding system.

The new equipment will allow the company to expand its waste tire processing capacity to handle an additional 7,500 tons per year of waste tires.

Golden By-Products processes and shreds waste tires into tire-derived aggregate; material for civil engineering applications; ground rubber for loose fill applications; and crumb rubber for use in rubberized athletic turf, rubberized asphalt, and molded rubber products.

Bulldog Marketing, LLC dba Bulldog Rubber and Recycling will use its $2 million loan proceeds to purchase equipment for its new tire recycling facility in Vista.

The loan will finance a tire shredding system, processing equipment and vehicles such as trucks and forklifts. This equipment will enable the business to recycle, shred and convert whole tires into buffing and crumb rubber. These tire products can be used in landscaping applications, playgrounds, asphalt overlays, and sports fields.

Bulldog projects it will hire at least 19 employees and will divert 13,000 tons of waste tires per year.