Contractor’s Report
to CalRecycle
10
Figure 2
Ten-Year Trend in California Waste Tire End-Uses
The peak in waste tire bale/shred exports may also indicate that the recently rising diversion rate
has also peaked. On the other hand, if ground rubber and processed tire-derived fuel (both
domestic and export) continue to grow in addition to expected growth in the use of waste tires for
civil engineering, this could offset reductions in diversion through export and potentially keep the
overall diversion rate near or above 90 percent in 2013.
The reuse and ground rubber market segments both consumed more passenger tire equivalents in
2012 than in previous years, up 6 and 11 percent from the number consumed in 2011,
respectively. Reuse does not appear to have much further room for increased diversion because
the number of potentially reusable tires is limited. There may be room for growth in retreading;
however, retreaders reported slightly reduced demand in 2012 and this segment is expected to
remain flat in the coming year.
The trend for increasing the passenger tire equivalents used to manufacture ground rubber is
uncertain. Rubberized asphalt concrete declined by almost 10 percent; while the 2013 trend is not
yet clear, there is some potential for this segment to grow. Some anticipate noticeable increases in
rubberized asphalt concrete sales in 2013, although this has reportedly not been seen yet as of
publication of this report. Use of California ground rubber in turf was up 27 percent in 2012 and
is reportedly on track to grow again in 2013, and use of California tires in loose-fill/mulch
increased by two-thirds in 2013 and appears on track to grow again in 2013. These two segments,
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5
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15
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25
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35
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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Millions PTE
Disposal Reuse Export Ground Rubber TDF ADC Civil Engineering Other Recycling
