For decades, the U. S. scrap tire industry has worked diligently to improve the consumption of scrap tires throughout the country. According to the U. S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA), in 1990, only 11 percent of annually generated scrap tires were consumed in beneficial end-use markets.
According to USTMA, in 2017 now over 25 percent of the approximately 62 million tires are used for playgrounds, landscaping mulch and molded and extruded products as the most prolific segments. Today’s crumb rubber is the result of removing metal and fabric from old tires and grinding the scrap tires into different sized pieces for specific applications