Smith County Board of Education Receives $313,906 Tire Program Grant

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) today announced a grant of $313,906 for the Smith County Board of Education from the state's Tire Environmental Act Program.

The Smith County Board of Education will provide matching funds of $78,476 and use the grant to install rubber mulch as playground surfaces for 18 playgrounds and one picnic area at seven district schools using recycled scrap tires. The project costs $392,382 and provides sustainable play surfaces that meet safety requirements to help protect the school children.

"The Tire Environmental Act Program provides ways to retrieve old tires and repurpose them into community assets," said TDEC Deputy Commissioner Greg Young. "These grants help make that happen, and we look forward to the results that come from this process."

The combined playground surfaces will require 680 tons of rubber mulch with is equivalent to approximately 62,000 scrap tires. Rubber mulch has proven to last much longer than wood mulch, which will help the schools to significantly reduce the costs associated with restocking these surfaces each year.

The purpose of the Tire Environmental Act Program is to select and fund projects that best result in beneficial uses for waste tires. Projects must qualify for one of three categories: tire processing/recycling, tire-derived material use, or research and development. The program provides grant funding to eligible entities, including local governments, non-profit organizations, higher education institutions, K-12 schools, and for-profit businesses.

Tennessee established the Tire Environmental Fund in 2015. Upon the first retail sale of a new motor vehicle to be titled and registered in Tennessee, a flat fee based on the number of a vehicle's wheels is assessed. The fee goes into the fund, which is used for projects creating or supporting beneficial end uses for waste tires.

Since 2015, grantees have been awarded almost $9.2 million, and approximately 7.6 million tires or nearly 82,000 tons of scrap tires have been diverted from landfills. The tires are repurposed for use in rubberized asphalt, tire-derived aggregate, tire-derived fuel, granulated rubber porous flexible pavement, and other beneficial end uses that result in tires being diverted from landfill for a higher and better use.