A new recycling initiative from Blount County’s Highway Department is projected to cut costs and be environmentally efficient. Introduced at a Blount County Operations Center exposition on Wednesday, Oct. 9, the new tire recycling program aims to take the rubber that can no longer be used on the road, and instead put it back into the road.
“It’s something everyone can get behind,” said U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.). “Liberal-minded folks will love this because it helps the environment. Conservative-minded folks will love it because it’ll save money.”
Burchett went on to congratulate Blount County Highway Superintendent Jeff Headrick for the “great job” he’s been doing as head of the department, a sentiment echoed by Charles Curtiss, executive director of the Tennessee County Commissioners Association.
“Y’all in Blount County are really lucky to have him,” said Curtis. “I mean it. I’ve been to all 95 counties, and when I say y’all got the best superintendent for your county department in that man? I mean that.”
In late 2023, the Blount County Highway Department received $200,000 in state and county grant money to test an asphalt and rubber mix in road construction and maintenance. Just shy of one year later and 3.3 miles paved throughout the county, Headrick is hoping the popularity of Blount County’s other recycling initiatives will help kickstart this one, too
“This facility goes through about 30,000 pounds of recycling each week,” said Headrick. “Over this past three weeks, we’ve surpassed 500 users per day. So we’re very excited and proud of that.”
Rubber Asphalt
Called rubber asphalt or rubberized asphalt, the mixture promises to promote pavement longevity while decreasing overall waste and reducing total road noise and water splashback, according to vice president of asphalt products at Liberty Tire Recycling Douglas D. Carlson.
“The congressman mentioned how about one scrap tire is generated per person per year,” said Carlson during opening presentation remarks. “For Liberty, we acquire about 2 million scrap tires annually, or roughly 600,000 scrap tires per day that we’ve got to find a home for.”
Liberty Tire Recycling partners with Blount County and 84 other Tennessee counties and helps provide the tools and equipment necessary to go from stockpiling used tires, to transforming them.
In essence, the process works like this. After the Blount County Highway Department collects and grinds down used tires into pellet or sand-like recycled materials, Liberty Tire Recycling further refines the remaining pieces and adds a binding oil.
“We’ve developed a way where we take the rubber and essentially cook it,” said Carlson. “We cook it at our facility, make the base and mix it with the oil. We rinse it, then deliver that as an oil-saturated rubber particle, still in it’s powder form so it’s really easy to handle at the next plant.”
Wires from within the tire can also be stripped and repurposed or resold during this time.
In addition to asphalt, recycled tires can be used to create playground and garden-safe mulch, stadium-grade turf, barricades and tire-driven fuel.
Regarding commercial grade rubber mulch, Carlson pointed out that last year, Liberty Tire Recycling helped repurpose 5 million tires across the state of Tennessee resulting in 9.5 million tons of recycled rubber product. After being packaged and later bought from major retailers, more than $360,000 in sales tax revenue came back to the state.
Plans
For Blount County specifically, the projections look good.
“You’re looking at beneficially using about 20,00 scrap tires, potentially up to 18 miles worth of overlays in that first project,” said Carlson. “And even better? You don’t have to change anything with your paving or plant operations.”
Carlson did note that the rubberized asphalt mix comes out to roughly $6 more per ton, but the tradeoff there comes from the mix’s proposed longevity.
“Test sections and other projects with rubber modified asphalt get about 30% to 50% longer lifespan before needing maintenance activity than regular asphalt,” said Carlson. “That’s what we’re looking at. Does it cost a bit more up front? Yes. Does it save money long term? Absolutely.”
Other notable Highway Department projects include the continuation of their award winning in-house Commercial Drivers’ License training program , preparations to host early voting and an expansion of the current glass recycling program.
Local News
