Court ruling could destroy US scrap tyre industry, expert says

Washington DC -  A US federal appeals court ruling on Clean Air Act definitions of tyre-derived fuel (TDF) could cause as many as 90 percent of scrap tyre processors to go out of business, according to one of America's top scrap tyre management experts.

"TDF is the oldest market and the biggest single market in the scrap tyre industry," said Michael Blumenthal, vice president, environmental and resource recovery at the Rubber Manufacturers Association.

In June, however, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that TDF should be governed under Clean Air Act regulations covering hazardous waste incinerators instead of industrial boilers, which would make the use of TDF prohibitively expensive.

Very few scrap tyre processors don't serve the TDF market directly, Blumenthal said, and if that market dries up, they won't have the economies of scale they need to continue. The RMA is in a coalition with several other groups attempting to appeal the court's decision.

"This is still a work in progress," Blumenthal said.

From Rubber & Plastics News (A Crain publication)