page_title: Tire recycling
section_title: Cryogenic recycling
hierarchical_section_title: Tire recycling / Uses / Cryogenic recycling
caption_attribution_description: English: NASA's Technology Transfer Office (TTO) at Stennis Space Center worked with a small tire recycling company, Cryopolymers, Inc. in St. Francisville, La., to improve its process for recycling used tires. Stennis helped Cryopolymers make better use of the cryogens, or super-cold fluids, used in its recycling process. First, the tires are frozen, then broken down and made into a material called "crumb," which can be used in asphalt road beds, agricultural hoses, and truck bed liners. TTO based this assistance on NASA's experience using cryogens in the testing of Space Shuttle Main Engines.
context_page_description: Tire recycling, or rubber recycling, is the process of recycling waste tires that are no longer suitable for use on vehicles due to wear or irreparable damage. These tires are a challenging source of waste, due to the large volume produced, the durability of the tires, and the components in the tire that are ecologically problematic.
  Because tires are highly durable and non-biodegradable, they can consume valued space in landfills. In 1990, it was estimated that over 1 billion scrap tires were in stockpiles in the United States. As of 2015, only 67 million tires remain in stockpiles. From 1994 to 2010, the European Union increased the amount of tires recycled from 25% of annual discards to nearly 95%, with roughly half of the end-of-life tires used for energy, mostly in cement manufacturing.
  Newer technology, such as pyrolysis and devulcanization, has made tires suitable targets for recycling despite their bulk and resilience. Aside from use as fuel, the main end use for tires remains ground rubber.
  In 2017, 13% of U.S. tires removed from their primary use were sold in the used tire market.
context_section_description: Tires can be frozen using cryogens, or super-cold fluids, then broken down and made into a material called "crumb," which can be used in asphalt road beds, agricultural hoses, and truck bed liners.
caption: NASA Stennis Space Center worked on cryogenic recycling of tires, in 1995.
exif: {}