Michigan awards $2M in scrap tire grants

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has awarded more than $2 million in grants to develop new markets for used vehicle tires.

Grants traditionally have included support for essential equipment and materials that aid in the establishment of new markets, including various manufacturing processes, implementation and testing of paving materials, energy generation and other innovative approaches.

RELATED: Michigan tires reused in roads, other applications

EGLE says these grants contribute to a more sustainable model for the scrap tire industry through increased market opportunities for scrap tire processors, end users and manufacturers.

This fiscal year funding will be used to support the following projects:

• Entech Inc., Middlebury, Indiana, received $300,000 to fund equipment to support the expansion of the use of rubber modified surface treatment for roads.
• St. Joseph County Road Commission received $202,860 to apply 18.14 lane miles of rubber-modified surface treatment.
• Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan, received $210,070 to fund a research partnership to install and study rubber-modified epoxy concrete on a bridge deck in St. Clair County as a lightweight bridge decking preservation method.
• Washtenaw County Road Commission received $377,877 for rubber-modified asphalt paving of 4 lane miles, using more than 7,600 scrap tires. This project will be a research partnership with Michigan Technological University.
• Clinton County Road Commission received $450,000 for a portable small-scale blending unit for devulcanized rubber-modified hot-mix asphalt binder, which will be used on 3.66 lane miles of road. This project will be a research partnership with Michigan State University.
• Road Commission of Kalamazoo County was awarded $499,999 to apply approximately 20 land miles of rubber-modified surface treatment.

EGLE also has awarded a $25,000 grant which will match funding for the Michigan Department of Transportation’s State Transportation Innovation Council (STIC) grant in partnership with the County Road Association of Michigan (CRA) related to rubber-modified asphalt and rubber-modified surface treatment for roads.

More information about Michigan's Scrap Tire Program can be found here.