Bredesen Announces Grant to Knox County to Fund Waste Tire Pilot

Nashville, Tenn. – Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke announced today that Knox County will receive a $27,290 grant to operate a pilot program that will allow the county to keep track of waste tire records electronically. Currently, each county uses paper manifests to record the quantity of waste tires delivered for proper end-use.

“I’m pleased we’re able to provide grant funding for a project that will allow the state and the county to be even more effective stewards of both the environment and our financial resources,” said Bredesen. “Reducing the paper and time required for recordkeeping supports the environment, the bottom line and our continued efforts to keep waste tires out of landfills.”

Grant funding will be used to purchase computers, barcode scanners and other necessary equipment. Under the pilot project, a barcode will be assigned to each eligible tire dealer in Knox County. This barcode will be scanned each time the dealer delivers waste tires for proper disposal. The program is expected to be replicated in other large counties in the future.

The pilot project funded by this grant helps support the state’s efforts to divert waste tires from landfills. In May, Governor Bredesen announced 89 waste tire grants totaling $4.1 million for that purpose.

“Once this program is in place, it should reduce the amount of paper and time required to process waste tire payments by half,” said Commissioner Fyke. “We look forward to working with Knox County on the pilot program, and with other counties as the program expands.”

Both the waste tire grants and the Knox County pilot project grant are supported from the Solid Waste Management Fund, which receives revenue from a state surcharge on the purchase of new tires and solid waste disposed at Class I landfills. The Solid Waste Management Fund is administered by the Department of Environment and Conservation. Ninety cents from every dollar collected from the surcharge on new tires is used for solid waste grants and services.

For more information on Tennessee’s waste tire program, please visit www.tdec.net/swm/tires.

For more information contact:

Tisha Calabrese-Benton
Office (865) 594-5442