Tires and Landfills

a licensed monofill landfill
A Licensed Monofill

Waste tires can be landfilled in Montana, but is this the most desirable disposal option?

The information presented in this website is not intended to answer the question posed above, but rather offers information to inform you about this method of waste tire management.

Are tires landfilled in Montana?

Yes, Montana does not ban tires from landfills or require that tires be cut up before disposal. Economics result in the majority of Montana's waste tires being disposed of in landfills. Long travel distances to waste tire markets means landfilling is usually less expensive than alternatives.

Most landfill operators are not required to keep specific records tracking tire disposal, however many will voluntarily share some tire disposal data on annual questionnaires sent out by DEQ. The Rasmussen Tire site near Kalispell, Tires for Reclamation near Silesia (Billings), and The Tire Depot near Polson are privately operated Class 3 monofills (tires only) and these operators are required to keep records of tires buried or recycled.

The 1998 Environmental Quality Council's 'Status of and Alternatives for the Management of Waste Tires in Montana: Report to the 56th Legislature', reported that those three monofill sites alone accounted for a total of 174,497 or nearly 51% of the waste tires reported to the DEQ as having been disposed of or recycled in 1997.

It is difficult to obtain absolute numbers on the amount of tires disposed of, or to know with certainty what happens to waste tires generated in Montana each year for several reasons:

  1. Lack of reporting. Only the three Class 3 tire monofills are required by law to track and report the number of tires accepted for disposal. Class 2 sites voluntarily provide the numbers and because tires often arrive at the facilities in mixed loads of unseparated waste, those numbers may not be comprehensive.
  2. Exemptions. If the property is larger than five acres, landowners and agricultural operations can dispose of waste on their own lands. (Must be in accordance with the exemption in Section 75-10-214, MCA.)
  3. Illegal disposal. Tires get illegally dumped in random locations.  In some instances, individuals may collect fees for hauling waste tires and then abandon them in illegal and unlicensed tire piles. DEQ has identified a handful of illegal tire dumps, with most containing a few hundred tires each. One such illegal dump contains several thousand tires and another abandoned tire site contains at least several hundred thousand tires. The owners of these piles are identified and given an opportunity to either bury the tires or otherwise eliminate the pile before enforcement actions are initiated. Montana has been lucky compared to many states with significant numbers of abandoned tire piles containing thousands or even millions of tires.

The Environmental Quality Council's 'Status of and Alternatives for the Management of Waste Tires in Montana: Report to the 56th Legislature (1998)'  includes a very good discussion regarding tires and landfill disposal in Montana. To learn more about this method of waste tire management, please click on the link above to see the entire report.

Do landfills regulate tire disposal?

Individual landfills retain the authority to decide on the types and conditions of wastes accepted as long as compliance with state issued permits and approved operation plans are maintained. Some landfills have requirements for cutting tires into 2-4 pieces before acceptance. The Flathead County Solid Waste District is the only landfill that has banned tires. Most of Flathead County's tires now get disposed of in nearby monofills. (Monofills are landfills that only accept and bury tires.)

The Community Services Bureau has more information on Montana laws regarding tires.

Do some states ban tires from landfills? Why?

The increased value of space within existing landfills and the tendency over time for tires to rise to the surface have contributed to thirty-five states banning whole tires from landfills. Other states require cutting, chipping, or grinding of tires prior to disposal, or take steps to reduce the number of tires being landfilled.

Tires by their nature are problematic for landfill operators because they cannot be efficiently compacted in normal landfill operations. The structural "memory" of tires is strong and they successfully resist most efforts to compact them with other garbage. The cubic yards occupied per pound are less than the average landfill density normally realized. The hollow space within a tire is a void and due to their resiliency tires migrate or "float" to the top of landfills, thereby impacting the integrity of landfill operations and creating more costs.

Should we consider keeping tires out of landfills?

In 1991, Montana set a goal of reducing the solid waste volumes disposed of in landfills or incinerated by 25% (Montana Integrated Waste Management Act, MCA 75-10-801). Keeping tires out of landfills can help reach this goal.

For some solid waste managers, avoiding the problems with tire disposal and saving landfill space are reason enough to support pursuing alternative management options. Other solid waste managers consider the broader benefits associated with alternative management options such as reuse, recycling, and energy recovery.

Including:

  • Saving natural resources. Reuse keeps tires out of the "throw-away" waste stream for which most products seem to be designed. Recycling reduces the amount of virgin materials needed for the next rubber product.
  • Reducing costs. In some cases, keeping waste tires out of landfills keeps operating costs down.
  • Maximizes their value. Producing tires requires a great deal of energy and resources (including fossil fuels). Reuse, recycling or energy recovery practices all reclaim part of that investment.
  • Saving landfill space allows more space to be available for items that have served their purpose and really can't be disposed of any other way. This is less of a priority for Montana.