News, Culture and NPR for Central & Northern Michigan
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
91.7FM Alpena and WCML-TV Channel 6 Alpena are off the air. Click here to learn more.

State awards nearly $3 million in grants for scrap tire research

Flickr User Domiriel https://flic.kr/p/adJQw7

 

The state has awarded $2.9 million in grants for  researching and developing new uses for old tires.

 

State officials say Michigan generates roughly ten million junk tires annually.

 

Those tires can accumulate in piles, and that creates a fire hazard and a breeding ground for mosquitos.

 

Aaron Hiday is a Sustainable Materials Management Specialist for the Department of Environmental Quality.

 

“The entire program is funded through a small fee that is collected every time a vehicle title transfers. So anytime a new or used car is purchased and there’s the title transfer there’s a dollar 50 fee that goes along with that and that’s how we fund the entire program.”

 

Hiday said tires can be used to make asphalt for roads, as raw material in the manufacturing process, as fuel to produce energy and as mulch in playgrounds and gardens.

 

“People have been playing with uses for them you know as a waste people try to use them they’ve been trying to be utilized for a long time but just recently within the last ten years, the department has put a focus on the market development.”

 

The grant funding were split between 14 entities throughout Michigan.