California recycles waste tires into new roads

Tire waste is a major problem in developed areas where often millions of tires do not get recycled for a variety of reasons, contributing to landfills and destroying the environment. In California alone around 42 million waste tires are generated every year, and while 75% of these tires are recycled, roughly 25%, or about 10 million tires, end up in landfills.

Now the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) is trying to reduce this figure by taking waste tires and using them to create new roads, tuning the waste product into rubberized asphalt concrete.

The $325,000 initiative will use about 21,000 waste tires that would otherwise have gone to landfills, which will pave around 10.5 lane miles. Rubberized asphalt concrete has advantages over regular asphalt, including using recycled materials, being quieter and more resistant to cracking and color loss, reports the LA Times. In addition to this, it saves the government around $50,000 per lane mile - meaning the $325,000 initiative could save the government up to $525,000.

The program is funded by a $1.75 charge levied on each tire sold in the state for recycling costs. Of the $1.75, $1 goes to the CIWMB while the remainder is used to pay for tire-related emissions programs.