Tire recycling is a relatively new phenomenon. During the late 80s and early 90s, a majority of tires ended up on public lands or in landfills, with only 11% repurposed. Thanks to modern technology and reprocessing techniques, that number jumped to 81.4% by 2017. Even so, Americans discard more than 290 million tires a year.
That’s a lot of rubber waste, but it’s also an amazing business opportunity. Salvaging methods provide countless opportunities.
Depending on the type of tire recycled, it’s possible to convert used tires into tire-derived fuels (TDF) and carbon black. Off-the-road (OTR) tires also contain scrap metal in the form of steel beading and wire.
If you’re an entrepreneur who’s also environmentally conscious, a tire recycling business is worth considering. With a little bit of effort, you can get yours rolling within a year’s time.
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Before you launch your own tire recycling business, you need to do your due diligence. This means considering a wide range of factors, including:
You’ll also need to decide whether you plan on renting an industrial facility, purchasing one outright, or constructing something completely new. Each option has its own downsides, benefits, and costs to consider.
A variety of businesses buy and utilize recycled tires. Instead of trying to serve several industries, niche down. Selecting a specialization and sticking with it can help you stand out from the competition.
Tire recycling falls into three categories: tire derived fuel (TDF) products, civil engineering applications, and ground or crumb rubber. You can select your recycling niche by asking yourself questions like:
Recycled tires are also used in:
Starting a tire recycling business requires capital. If you aren’t already wealthy, there are several options to acquire funding, the most straightforward being a small business loan.
You might also want to consider speaking with investors. A growing number of venture capitalists are funding green and eco-friendly initiatives.
If you’re launching a small operation, you may even want to consider crowdfunding. Sites like Fundable and Kickstarter have helped hundreds of entrepreneur’s achieve their dream of owning a business.
If all else fails, look into state or federal grants. Many state agencies offer programs that encourage scrap tire management and cleanup. The EPA also offers grants, but only for businesses doing innovative research.
In the state of Utah, all businesses that dispose of, recycle, or incinerate solid waste must comply with the state’s solid waste rules.
In addition, waste tire recycling businesses must register with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality under the Waste Tire Recycling Act. You can fill out an application here.
Fees also apply. Depending on the size and location of your facility, the state may require a sum of between $0-$5,000. There’s also a waste tire or recycler registration fee of $100.
Once you’ve established a strong foundation for your tire recycling business, it’s time to purchase the necessary equipment to get the job done.
With over 25 years in the tire recycling space, you can count on our team to provide you with high-quality, affordable, and efficient machinery.
No matter your niche, we have equipment to meet your needs. Our product line includes:
In addition, we carry:
No matter the scope of your tire recycling business, we have the tools, experience, and expertise to ensure you’re equipped for success.
If you’re interested in learning more about a particular piece of equipment, or you’re ready to make a purchase, give us a call at (801) 505-6841 or fill out an online contact form today.
Tire recycling is as lucrative as it is rewarding. We look forward to assisting you on your journey!
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For decades, old car and truck tires have dotted the landscape.
Tossed in scrap heaps and buried in landfills, they pose a significant environmental hazard. In the last 50 years, the tire disposal problem has risen to the forefront of environmentalists’ minds. Tire recycling is growing in popularity both for its environmental impact as well as its profitability as a business model.
As more uses for the recycled rubber are discovered, the demand for it increases, enabling recyclers to produce and sell more product. With roughly 290 million tires being discarded in the United States every year, the tire supply is plentiful, making now the perfect time to start your own tire recycling business.
The idea sounds great on paper, and while you may know a lot about tires, there may still be a steep learning curve and a significant investment hurdle to overcome. If done right, however, tire recycling can be a very profitable business.
Before you jump in with both feet, you should understand the waters into which you are treading. Become educated about the business first.
If you really want to know how recycling works, apply for a position at a recycling plant. Learn all you can about the business and the process from start to finish. This experience will give you a sound knowledge base from which to start.
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Tire recycling can only be profitable if you can identify both the supplier and customer. The supplier will work on the front end to get you the raw rubber you need for processing. The customer on the back end will buy the processed rubber product you produce.
Ideally, your suppliers should be located within a 150-mile radius of the location where you plan to set up shop. If they are any farther away, you will end up wasting time and money collecting old tires. The best way to get tires from point A to point B will depend on who your supplier is and how quickly the tires stack up at their location. A few different options to explore include:
1.
Offer a Pick-up Service – A small car repair shop may only generate 20 passenger tires every two weeks. This small load can easily be picked up in a van or truck regularly, making recycling easy for the customer.
2. Deliver Disposal Containers – For larger volumes of tires, you may consider dropping off an empty dumpster to be picked up when it is full. This option makes loading and transportation easier for larger loads. It is especially helpful for larger diameter tires, as they are difficult to load and unload by hand.
3. Offer Onsite Drop-Off – There will always be do-it-yourself-ers that like to change their own tires. Designate an easily accessible spot on your property where small loads can be dropped off.
Most recycled tire rubber does not find its way onto the playground as you might expect. In fact, most recycled tires are actually burned as tired derived fuel (TDS). Unless you have a paper mill or cement plant nearby, TDS may not be in high demand in your area.
You will need to take a hard look at the market around you to find your niche.
Because of the high up-front costs associated with buying equipment, securing land, and hiring employees, it is best not to try to be a jack of all trades right out the gate. Find an area where demand is high, and competition is low. Potential clients could include utility companies, construction contractors, athletic fields, and manufacturers. Ground rubber and crumb rubber are commonly used to manufacture many products that were once made exclusively of wood, asphalt, or plastics.
Once you are satisfied that the market can support your growing new business, creating a detailed business plan is the next essential step. The initial investment to begin recycling tires will likely require either a small business loan or outside investors’ assistance. In either case, you are unlikely to receive financial aid without a solid plan to pay back those loans.
If this type of loan is out of reach, you might apply for a government grant.
Grants at the federal level are limited but are available through the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR). This Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Program awards funds to proposals that tackle high priority EPA issues. Solid waste management involving waste tire removal and disposal is one such issue. However, grants are limited to small businesses with less than 500 employees and come with the requirement that the company demonstrates innovation in technology and commercialization of their efforts to improve the environment.
Funds are also available to support the efforts of waste tire recyclers and innovators alike at the state level. In 1999, the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources granted Continental General Tire $1.2 million to fund their research into manufacturing tires using 25% recycled rubber. The project’s goal was to reuse the old rubber to make new tires without compromising the quality or longevity of the new tires.
In 2002, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources awarded $1 million in grants to five different waste management businesses to fund projects recycling shredded tires for use as tire-derived fuel, as well as landscaping and building projects.
Check with your state to see if funding is available for research or tire clean-up projects before you take out hefty debts to start your business. You may be able to find money in unexpected places.
Last but certainly not least, make sure that your business is operating safely and legally. While the requirements vary by state, there are regulations in every state that you will need to comply with to operate a tire recycling business. Contacting the EPA, as well as local government entities, early in your planning is essential. Be sure to apply for licenses early on to have them on hand when you are ready to open your shop for business. For the safety of employees and your investment, you should also have adequate insurance to cover any unfortunate incidents that may occur.
Passenger and truck tire manufacturers and distributors make up a large sector of our economy. Indeed, we are dependent on tires for transporting goods and people all across the country.
This dependence has led to an abundance of waste. Until recently, we struggled to find a solution to this growing problem. With the emergence of new technologies in recycling and reuse of these rubber products, the present is a great time to jump in and be a part of this expanding new business market.
Interested in getting started? Contact ECO Green Equipment to find out more about our turnkey tire recycling solutions and integrated equipment. Our tire crushers, grinders, shredders and colorizers are revolutionizing the market by processing waste tires faster and with greater cost and energy efficiency than the competition.
The number of cars is increasing every year and therefore the business related to the technical support of vehicles becomes especially relevant and profitable. In this article, we will look at how to open a tire shop in our city, touching on all the main points regarding the choice of premises, equipment, and calculate the starting investment.
The competition in this segment is serious, because even in small towns there are at least one or two such workshops where you can quickly and inexpensively change or repair car tires. Therefore, in order to stand out from the crowd of competitors, you must first of all offer the client a better service, perhaps perform the work even faster for the same money. Also, do not forget about the little things, such as offering tea or coffee to the client while he is waiting for the work to be done. It is from such small details that the overall picture of tire fitting as a business and about you as the owner of this service will be formed. Here the reputation of the service and customer recommendations play an important role.
Another aspect of the tire fitting business is seasonality. Yes, although car owners pierce the wheels all year round, but still the peaks of earnings in this area fall precisely on the off-season. Usually, at this time, the owners of such a service hire additional employees and work until late, since the flow of customers during this period can increase by 5-6 times.
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Classification occurs primarily depending on the approach to customer service.
There are two types of tire service:
- stationary. Which can be opened in the same garage or box, there is permanently installed equipment and a stable work schedule. In fact, this is a classic version of this business.
- mobile tire service. Such a business is relevant primarily in large cities and is a converted truck, for example, based on a Mercedes Sprinter, in the cargo compartment of which all the necessary equipment is installed and all the tools are available so that you can quickly sort out and repair the wheel. The advantages of an on-site tire fitting business are, first of all, that you can drive up to the client directly to the place where he punctured a wheel or badly damaged a disk and carry out all the work on the spot.
This can be done even outside the city, which is very convenient.
We will consider the first option for this business, namely the opening of a stationary tire shop.
The next stage in the development of tire fitting is the opening of a full-fledged car service. How to properly approach the launch of this business and what you should pay special attention to, you can read in our article - http://biznes-club.com/biznes-idei/kak-otkry-t-avtoservis.html.
As with any activity, you will need to complete all necessary paperwork and work permits.
Here is a list of what you will need:
In order to be 100% sure that all permits are issued correctly, we advise you to contact a lawyer and consult about this matter.
Before you start, you need to choose the right room. There must be a good access for cars, a large flow of cars, or the presence of a gas station nearby can significantly increase your income. The closer your service is to the central highways of the city, the more chances you have for success.
Another option where you can open a tire service business is a sleeping area. In densely populated areas, as a rule, there are a huge number of cars that require constant maintenance and tire fitting, in the absence of a large number of competitors, this can be a great business option, and you can earn substantial amounts in the off-season.
Now let's talk about what it takes to get started in this business. The most serious need to approach the choice of equipment for tire fitting. Here is a list of the main technical base that you will need to purchase.
The cost is given as an example for the average price category.
In general, to buy simple equipment you will need about $6,000, but if you are counting on a large flow of customers, then you will need to purchase at least semi-professional equipment, which is already much more expensive.
In this business, personnel play an important role. We need to pick up a few people with a shift work schedule. It is imperative to find one experienced master so that he can train the others. But it's hard enough to find it. As a rule, in such a business there is a high turnover of staff, especially in the off-season.
Also, the second problem that you may encounter when considering the business idea of a tire service is the bad habits of the staff. In particular, there are problems among employees with alcohol. And as experienced entrepreneurs in this field say, it can take more than one year to form a reliable team.
In order for people to work for you on a permanent basis, you need to offer them remuneration in the format of a rate + percentage of clients served.
In this way, a high level of motivation can be ensured.
Well, the main advertisement here is a good location with a bright sign. But ads in the newspaper and distribution of leaflets will never be superfluous.
When creating a design for a signboard, business cards and other company attributes, it is important to focus on bright colors that would stand out when a car enthusiast passes by a signboard or advertising bill. Usually use yellow or red.
Drawing up a business plan for tire fitting and making basic calculations, you will be able to realistically assess the level of investment and, based on it, it will be possible to focus on prices, for example, when choosing equipment.
We'll list the main costs so you can plug in your numbers and figure out how much it costs to start this business.
Starting investment:
Monthly investment:
Also keep in mind that equipment will become obsolete over time and you will need to repair it.
The average owner of a small tire shop earns about $700 - $1000. The payback of such a business is about a year.
Conclusions. We reviewed the main points of opening a tire fitting service. It can be noted that a good location decides a lot. Another important point is the choice of equipment and staff, because the quality of service will determine whether the visitor becomes a regular customer and whether he will recommend your service to his friends.
Do you have experience in this niche? Looking forward to your comments below.
There is a need for this service - it is obvious to anyone:
Tire shops are growing like mushrooms around, and they are all few: there is still nowhere to change tires for the winter: stand in line or sign up ... and therefore your desire coincides with the public need – everyone definitely needs your tire service.
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But how to make money on it?
Taking a closer look:
Typically, a tire shop earns more than 80% of its income during high demand seasons - by changing tires before winter and a second surge in spring.
In this hot time, there really is no end to customers and the owner, rubbing his hands, comes up with something else to buy from equipment to speed up the process and let more cars through the season.
The rest of the time (if you don't think of anything else) tire workers have a rest: pumping wheels, express puncture repair, less often - serious side cuts of tires. Sometimes straightening disks, and then, if you are actively engaged in this service.
In general - there is no download and no money either. At such a time, the owner wants to close his business.
As a result, we draw the first conclusions for ourselves: How to earn the main money on tire fitting?
To discuss with you the question - what else to load your workshop during the off-season? - now we won’t do it yet - but by the end of the article we will advise, based on the accumulated experience, what services can be offered additionally.
There is another main feature of the provision of tire services:
Of course, times are changing - and in the age of the Internet, everything can be fixed. But this business is still weak in this:
for example - punch the query on the search engine:
"tire service in Kyiv" - in Zhytomyr - and in your city?
So far, there are few - and only large centers.
Although there are already such requests: "tire service around the clock." Think.
New communications only give chances to the new and the young, the advanced.
For a normal European level, this is a room for a mini-service station for 2-4 posts, with cars driving inside.
These are standard modern approaches for tire centers and, if you wish, we can calmly work out the layout with you and make a technological project for such a service (Automechanika designed something else).
But that's another story.
The topic of our article is more real from the life of those who start their own business, and therefore we land:
There is a separate list of questions related to the design of the premises and official business permits. This is a separate topic not for our article, but you will have to solve these issues too.
A well-organized business is always under control. Trust but verify.
There are many tricks on how to organize accounting and control in your business, and therefore learn.
The technical part with staff training can be solved very calmly:
Ready-made tire fitters already have minimal skills, and therefore sellers of tire fitting equipment will help you teach how to work on new modern stands - and do not be shy with questions and requests.
It's also easy to teach more advanced professional tire repair techniques.
It is necessary to contact importers of tire repair materials, for example: the official representative of the company TECH (materials and technologies for tire repair) is the company AM-Technology Kyiv www.
amtech.com.ua.
Large serious firms conduct regular free trainings and training courses in tire repair technologies, and therefore it is easy: contact directly: they are waiting for you and will be happy to.
Determine the number of tire fitters according to your project.
At least one shift - one competent main pro and 1-2 assistants with lesser requirements and skills.
For the wheel re-shoe season (1-2 months in autumn and 1 month in spring), it is advisable to provide for the possibility of additional involvement of staff for peak load - you will earn more.
For a first approximation and a correct economic assessment of our project, we will draw up a budget for the purchase of equipment. First - the most necessary from practice.
Prices are not junk (not to be mistaken), but at the average cost of proven Italian machines.
According to the list - the list of the main equipment:
1200 euro The minimum total is 7500 euros.
This is a fairly standard worked out list of customer requests.
There are several bottlenecks in it:
But many not only save, but do not even know it. As a result, the initial settlement amount may increase by another 2000-3000 euros.
For more advanced tire centers with high load and more expensive car wheels, the required technical and price level of equipment is several steps higher:
There are questions about choosing a good tire changer for heavy, hard, low profile tires and higher standards for high speed tire balancing accuracy, from disc and tire imbalance optimization to full wheel diagnostics.
But this is the topic of our next articles: Top-level tire fitting.
We buy wisely.
Proven for decades: Tire fitting equipment is your main investment in your project. And you need to do them with a confident expectation of a good and successful business - otherwise you don’t even need to start.
Our long-term experience shows that the main equipment for standard tire fitting is bought almost once every 10-20 years.
And therefore, even having saved at first on cheap China, do not count on the fact that you can change it later “when the business gets on its feet”:
, believe someone else’s experience, it won’t - and you will still be on your knees all 10 years in repairs. And everything will break down exactly when the most customers are ready to pay you for the service.
Based on real practice, we advise you to choose the technical level of equipment based on its maximum load and performance during peak periods - where speed and reliability are important.
In order:
What to buy: cheap Chinese machine or reliable Italy?
The answer is very simple - 15 years ago this question simply did not arise, but why? It's just that in China at that time tire fitting equipment was not produced.
Everything is fresh and just recently made. Moreover, (if you understand a lot about equipment) everything is 100% copied in China - and not always good and not always good. You want to double-check it - then this is your conscious choice.
If you buy for yourself (and not for rent), we recommend starting with a good proven Italian machine: it will last a long time, believe us.
A note for a businessman - like all cheap, used equipment from China, after 2 years it costs nothing, and a normal German or Italian stand can work for decades and loses little in price.
We know this for sure: in Avtomekhanika there is one of the directions - the sale of used tire changers.
Hofmann stands from the 80s came to us for repairs and, after a small repair, they still work for many years.
Due to the specific nature of the clearly expressed seasonal load, each owner of a tire workshop asks himself a reasonable question about an additional set of services, especially for the summer period, when there is no load at all.
, simply do not take. A rhetorical question for the authors of the article, although the answer will not be so unambiguous:
Equipment must be purchased from the importing company and not from intermediaries.
This is the smartest choice and here's why:
