I notice that the
letter doesn't state how much it costs -- in terms of money, or energy
-- to produce the rubber from the tires that is said to sell for 95¢ a
pound. It is certainly not true that such a plant would "not pollute" -- all
manufacturing processes produce emissions, either directly or indirectly and the
transportation of the tires also has an environmental impact.
I would hope
advocates for alternatives would not gloss over issues.
John
PS - If the Erie
area is really planning to burn 300 million tires a year, this is an incredible
situation, since this is about the number of auto tires discarded in the entire
US in a year.
Letter to the Editor The Star
Ledger One Star-Ledger Plaza Newark, NJ 07102-1200
November 1,
2007
Dear Editor,
There is no need for conflict between
economics and environment when it comes to old tires, (To Burn or Bury?, Star
Ledger, 31 October 2007, page 1.). Old tires are a valuable raw material
that should be processed into a virgin-material substitute in the new
manufacture of tires and other rubber compounds for consumer and industrial
products. This processing is solely mechanical – no chemicals are
used. The facilities do not pollute. Tire burning creates a great
deal of pollution. So much so that a new court ruling (The Brick Kiln
decision), held that all facilities that burn tires (cement kilns, paper
mills) now must abide by incineration pollution control standards to control
hazardous emissions emanating from the stacks.
Economically and
environmentally, burning tires is a losing proposition. Mechanically
processed rubber sells for 95 cents per pound, far more than the value of
burning tires for energy. In fact, burning tires for energy loses
energy. OId tires provide 14,000 BTUs per pound when burned. Using
processed rubber materials saves twice as much energy in production of new
rubber products. A 300 million per year tire burning plant proposed for
Erie, PA will cost $165 million and create 60 jobs. If these tires were
processed into new rubber, with metal and polyethylene recovery, the Erie
region would need five plants each employing 115 workers (575 jobs) at $14 per
hour. The total capital investment for these five plants would be $60
million.
Tire burning is a bad idea for both economic and
environmental reasons. Given the regulatory uncertainty surrounding tire
incineration, no investment in this technology should be considered at this
time. However, it is time to start using old tires as a source of new
rubber materials and significant economic development in areas of the country
like Erie, Pa., Buffalo, NY, and New Orleans, LA., among other economically
hard-hit areas. We need an environmental and economic development policy
that treats materials as if every molecule matters. Communities should
be dedicating their old tires, and other industrial rubber discards to
mechanical processing plants.
Sincerely,
Neil Seldman,
PhD President Institute for local
Self-Reliance
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