Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality Director Mike Linder announced today that the state is awarding more than $2.5 million to support 126 tire recycling and cleanup projects across the state.

"Nebraskans pay a $1 fee for every new tire they purchase," said Linder. "These grants put that money into use locally to help manage scrap tires. We like to see the highest possible beneficial use of these old tires, and these projects help us reach that goal."

Nebraskans generate over one and a half million scrap tires each year, about one tire for every person in the state. The grants awarded today will help to clean up approximately 1,160,000 scrap tires through local collection events, will reimburse individuals and organizations for crumb rubber and equipment purchases, and will help prevent public health and environmental problems by eliminating tire piles, Linder said.

The grants are part of the Waste Reduction and Recycling Grants program, which is administered by the Department of Environmental Quality. The grants support both the collection of scrap tires and the purchase of new tire-derived products. 2009 grant recipients include:
 

• Keep Alliance Beautiful – awarded $6,699 to pay 50% of the cost of approximately 40,000 lbs. of landscaping mulch made from recycled scrap tires. This is a continuation of a program started in 2007 for local homeowners and organizations to purchase landscaping mulch in bulk.
• Morrill Public Schools – awarded $20,805 to pay 25% of the cost of an athletic track surface made from approximately 80,000 lbs. of crumb rubber made from recycled scrap tires.
• Omaha Public Schools – Northwest High School – awarded $67,295 to pay 25% of the cost of an artificial turf football field made from approximately 40-45,000 recycled scrap tires.
• Nebraska Department of Roads – awarded $388,927 to pay for the partial cost of using rubber-modified asphalt at three locations: 1.27 miles on Hwy. 43 at Bennet, recycling the equivalent of 1,515 passenger tires, 11.28 miles on Hwy. 91 at Leigh, recycling the equivalent of 32,871 passenger tires, and 8.5 miles on Hwy. 159 at Rulo, recycling the equivalent of 6,376 passenger tires. These projects will continue the Department of Roads’ evaluation of this type of asphalt on Nebraska roadways.
• Local scrap tire collection events – awarded $1,146,444 to conduct scrap tire collections. Sixty political subdivisions will hold scrap tire collection cleanups this year. Funds have been made available to clean up 11,605 tons of scrap tires from individuals, farms, and businesses. The tires will be converted into crumb rubber for playground surfaces, running tracks, artificial turf surfaces, and rubber-modified asphalt. They will also be processed into shreds for daily cover at landfills, and for use in leachate collection systems and around septic tank laterals. Other scrap tires will be hauled to scrap tire landfills outside of Nebraska.

Below is a listing of the 2009 Waste Reduction and Recycling Tire Grants.