The Tire Wire

Ohio is the latest environmentally conscious state to join the mission for a greener world from the ground up: The city of Lima is working towards securing a road project through the state department of natural resources that proposes using asphalt made with ground scrap tires for new and improved city roadways.

Asphalt rubber has been around for several years, and its utilization is continuing to grow throughout the country. Benefits of an asphalt upgrade in Lima include a 900-tire landfill reduction, four year increase in roadway lifespan, reduction in asphalt cracking, and decrease in traffic noise and emissions. Approximately 12 million tires have already been recycled for roadways, with California and Arizona using the most for highways.

Although the project sounds like an easy win for the Ohio city, the $150,000 grant was rejected the last time the city applied and there are no guarantees it will be passed this time around. There are a few drawbacks to asphalt rubber that may be to blame: bad smell, smoke, sticky material base and high costs to implement. However, as the 2 to 3 billion abandoned scrap tires continue to stockpile, the risk of tire fires increases, which poses serious environmental threats.

For individuals concerned with tire recycling, most tire retailers will accept your old treads. You can also check with local recycling facilities and solid waste management agencies, but it is not common for companies to buy scrap tires.

Resilient Technologies and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Polymer Engineering Center are working together to perfect a “non-pneumatic tire” that will support excess armor weight, survive IED attacks and still be able to make a clean, 50 mph getaway when escaping enemy combat. The airless tire looks like a honeycomb encased with a thick tread for ground grip.

The four-year, $18 million project is in partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense. Resilient pursued the development in response to the military’s need for an alternative to their current Humvee, which requires a small amount of air pressure for its tire, and if punctured can leave men stranded.

“The goal was to reduce the variation in the stiffness of the tire, to make it transmit loads uniformly and become more homogenous,” said mechanical engineering professor Tim Osswald. “And the best design, as nature gives it to us, is really the honeycomb.”

Soon, rims will no longer rep auto authority – “How big’s your honeycomb?” will be the new standard.