Generation of Waste Tires

It is commonly accepted in the tire industry that about one tire per person per year is discarded. Since there is no industry group or governmental agency that monitors tire disposal in the United States, the best estimates that can be made are based on tire production. The Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) records the number of original equipment, replacement, and export tires that are shipped each year in the United States. (See Table 3.) In 1990, a total of 264,262,000 tires were shipped. The RMA data include new tire imports, but not imported used tires. To estimate the number of tires that were discarded in the United States in 1990, the following assumptions were made  

One tire is discarded for each replacement tire shipped, including new and used imports. (Discard is assumed to be in the same year as replacement tire production.) 

Original equipment tires are not discarded in the year they are produced, but rather in the year a replacement is sold. 

Four tires are discarded for each automobile or truck when it is taken out of service. 

Retreads and reused tires are put back into service in the same calendar year that they were taken out. (Therefore, retreading and reuse simply have the effect of extending the tire s useful life.) 

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