Used Tires And Oil: Are They Fuel Or Solid Waste?

By John DeCostanza

John DeCostanza

Contributing Writer BIO

After 35 years plus John DeCostanza knows his way around an auto repair operation and offers varied insights into that industry and other automotive... More

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1,874 views September 2, 2010

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“That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” does not apply in the auto repair aftermarket as far as the Environmental Protection Agency is concerned. What Shakespeare thought was just a matter of semantics, can have a drastic impact on the future of used tires and oil.

As the EPA ponders the reclassification of these auto repair generated cast offs, the industry is bracing for the profound changes their renaming would entail. Right now they are considered “recycled fuel” as opposed to the proposed designation of “solid waste”, according to Aftermarket Business.

Of course there’s an acronym for tires used as fuel, which is TDF for tire-derived fuel. Tire Business estimates that 150 million tires a year are used by cement kilns and paper mills to power their processing operations. If the tires are reclassified as solid waste these operations would be reluctant to use tires as fuel and be reclassified themselves as solid waste incinerators.

The possible need to reclassify the two used materials is prompted by a December deadline necessitated by a 2007 U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that determined that the EPA needed to apply a more strict section of the Clean Air Act in its rulings for the burning of alternate fuels. A landfill crisis is anticipated if the tires can no longer be used as TDF.

Environmental groups think the EPA is playing a name game and thinks tires are not fuel but just “trash”. Their opposition to TDF is based on the belief that their incinerations release to the air dioxin which is a known carcinogen. This position was disputed in a New York Times article by a spokesperson of the Rubber Manufacturers Association who cited pollution control procedures which make TDF use as safe as fossil fuel.

On the other hand the draining of oil from a crankcase of a 2008 Chevy Impala or any other car is rather straightforward. The oil is captured, stored on site and then collected by a recycler. The auto repair facility is either compensated or just relieved of the used oil depending on market conditions. Other shops may heat their buildings by burning the oil in specially designed waste oil heaters.

This would change if used oil is reclassified as a solid waste since its special handling would generate fees in each phase of its processing.  The shop would no longer be able to burn the fuel unless it would comply with rules applicable to solid waste generators. The change would also have implications for the Do-It –Yourselfer, since shops could no longer accept used oil free of charge as a convenience.

The purchase of oil at retail would most likely morph into something like a bottle return program. A deposit would have to be charged each time oil was sold which would be refunded when the used oil was returned for recycling. Other suggestions range from banning the sale of oil at retail altogether to requiring a returnable container to be provided with each sale.

The December decision looms large for all involved in the tire and oil production/use chain.

[Aftermarket Business, Tire Business]