Innovative Uses and New Market Opportunities for Waste Tires; Request for Information [34 Pa.B. 3986] The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) is seeking ideas and suggestions for innovative uses and new market opportunities for waste tires currently located on a property owned by Max Starr in Greenwood Township, Columbia County. The site contains approximately 6-10 million tires accumulated since the early 1980s. The Department, its agents and contractors will have access to the site to perform waste tire removal and other actions as deemed necessary. The Department's objective is to demonstrate the ability to beneficially use waste tires in this Commonwealth to promote a sustainable market-based outlet for the remaining tires onsite. The Department strives to identify a process or use for waste tires so that the product derived from waste tires will be used as a commodity in this Commonwealth. The Department seeks detailed ideas for projects that would require funding for a period of time not exceeding 2 years. These ideas should ultimately remove tires from the site as well as identify innovative uses that result in the manufacture of consumer products from the waste tires or consumption of the waste tires instead of other raw materials. Ideas that include supplementing the removal cost of the tires from the site should clearly indicate how the activities to be funded will be sustainable without funding after the subsidy ends.
Examples of potential ideas include the following:
* Processing waste tires for use as high value end use products:
-- Crumb rubber.
-- Mats.
-- Playground surface.
-- Rubber mulch.
-- Carpet underlayment.
-- Railroad crossing mats.
-- Flooring.
-- Sound barriers.
-- Hexagonal pavers.
-- Swing seats.
-- Parking stops.
* Processing waste tires for use as tire-derived material for fuel.
* Processing waste tires for civil engineering uses:
-- Subgrade fill and embankments.
-- Back fill for walls and bridge abutments.
-- Subgrade insulation for roads.
-- Landfill leachate collection systems.
-- Septic system drain fields.
-- French drain systems.
-- Residential backfill around foundations.
* Use of whole tires for:
-- Erosion control.
-- Crash barriers.
-- Artificial reefs.
* Innovative tire processing methodologies or innovative tire product development.
Other Requirements
Ideas should:
* Permanently remove tires from the site.
* Promotion of a market for waste tire reuse.
* Deliver waste tire products for consumer or beneficial reuse.
* Track use or sale of tire products from the site.
* Stimulate community partnerships, support and involvement.
The Department will not provide compensation for submission of information in response to this request. James Miller of the Department's North Central Regional Office will provide two site tours for the purposes of providing adequate access and information for idea submitting. Contact James Miller at (570) 327-3653 to arrange for a tour. Contractors should submit ideas by mail only by August 13, 2004, to the Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Energy and Technology Development, Attn: David Althoff--Starr Tire Pile, 400 Market St., 15th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17101.
KATHLEEN A. MCGINTY,
Secretary[Pa.B. Doc. No. 04-1370. Filed for public inspection July 23, 2004, 9:00 a.m.]
