A new report from the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association makes the challenge clear: tire recycling in the U.S. is no longer keeping pace with the volume of scrap tires generated each year. While tires remain one of the most recycled products in the country, end-of-life markets have stalled, leaving millions of tires in stockpiles and slowing progress toward a truly circular system. Read the full USTMA report.
According to the report, scrap tire recycling peaked in 2013 and has declined since, even as tire generation continues to rise. Today, more than 56 million scrap tires remain in stockpiles across several states, many without active cleanup programs. The takeaway is not that recycling failed, but that demand for recycled materials has not grown fast enough to absorb the supply.
This is exactly the gap Pretred was built to address. Recycling only works when there are durable, scalable end uses on the other side. By turning end-of-life tires into infrastructure-ready barriers and blocks, Pretred creates consistent, high-volume demand for recycled rubber while replacing traditional materials that carry a heavier environmental footprint.
The USTMA report reinforces an urgent truth: progress depends on investment in new markets, updated specifications, and real-world applications that can scale. Pretred’s role in that system is simple and practical: put waste tires to work in infrastructure, reduce stockpiles, and help move the tire recycling economy forward where it has stalled.