By KEISHA STEWART
THE ROANOKE TIMES

   Even before the tire fire on W.J. Keeling's property started March 23, Roanoke County and Department of Environmental Quality officials wondered what to do with millions of old tires.

    In 1999, nine companies submitted proposals on what they would do with the property and the tires.

    Ideas for the property and the tires ranged from the ordinary to the unique.

    One man suggested using the tires for Eco-Blocks, which are slabs of construction material. Another proposed using the tires as fuel for a cement kiln in West Virginia, a more common use for scrap tires.

    None of the ideas panned out.

    But the suggestions demonstrate the growing aftermarket tire industry, which lands components and pieces of old tires anywhere from kilns to playgrounds.

    "Almost all the tires are being processed and recycled," said Allan Lassiter, manager of Virginia's Waste Tire Program in Richmond.

    According to the Scrap Tire Management Council, about 70 percent of scrap tires nationwide were recycled whole, shredded or crumbled last year.

    Tire disposal usually begins with tire retailers, who gather old tires after customers buy new ones. Tire retailers charge a tire disposal fee, usually about $2 per tire.

    onsumers can also take tires to landfills, transfer stations or recycling centers for a fee, ranging from $2 to $5 per tire.

    From dealers and landfills, scrap tires are transported to tire recycling companies to manufacture tire-based products. Tire jockeys, independent haulers like Keeling, also transport tires to landfills or recycling companies.

    Scrap tires have three main uses, according to Michael Blumenthal, senior technical director of the Rubber Manufacturers Association, in Washington, D.C.

    Cement manufacturers burn tires as fuel and use the steel that comes from tires as a component of the cement. Paper mills and electric companies also burn tires as fuel.

    Tire pieces also can be used instead of rock, stone or dirt as fill material. And tire recyclers grind rubber for use in the manufacture of new products, such as playground covers and floor mats. Some of the rubber is used in horse arenas or as large sleeping mattresses for cattle.

    In other cases, recyclers grind tires, and strip the steel and fabric to make crumb rubber, used to manufacture rubberized asphalt. The asphalt is used on roads and running tracks.

    A common use for tires, however, is to shred and spread the remains as landfill cover.

    Marvin Bozarth, senior technical consultant for International Tire and Rubber Association, in Louisville, Ky., said the association prefers the tires to be retreaded, more common in the case of truck tires, or repaired and reused, in the case of automobile tires.

    Bozarth said entrepreneurs are developing more ways to use scrap tires and other rubber products, but more uses are necessary.

    "There's not enough products out there to use all the scrap tires that are taken off of vehicles every year," Bozarth said.

    Tire recycling companies say transporting and breaking down tires costs more than they're worth .

    Recyclers who don't charge enough for transporting tires usually fold, said Paul Roszel of Ontario-based Recycler's World, a commodities recycling Web site. Transportation, equipment and labor costs are more than the value of the tire components and pieces, Roszel said.

    End users - manufacturers and utility companies - receive money from Virginia's Waste Tire Trust Fund when they use tire parts. The companies receive $22.50 per ton for tires that come from dealers and $50 from waste tire sites, such as the Roanoke County site.

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