Linden’s ArkLaTex already 45k tires processed

ArkLaTex Tire Processing has only been open since November but has already processed approximately 45,000 tires in a three-month period. According to Stephen McLemore, Director of Operations, says that processing continues to go up weekly, and fully expects a 20%-30% increase over the next three months.

The tire processing center was opened to fill a real need in Northeast Texas. In the area, people dump their trash on other people’s land leaving the owner to figure out a way to deal with rotting tires. Recently on a local social media page, it was posted that a piece of land continues to find trash on it. In the middle of the pictures was an old tire.

According to the EPA, it takes 50-80 years for those tires in their current state to decompose. Every year nearly 300 million tires are discarded in just the US alone, many of those are illegally dumped.

In 2019 cleanup was underway when more than 20,000 tires were abandoned on a property in their nearby community of Simms, Texas. According to a story from KTBS, “The Bowie County Environmental Office recently received about $16,000 from the Ark-Tex Council of Governments for tire clean up. Nearly half of those funds are being used on the Simms, Texas property (alone).” In the news story Scottie Taylor, Bowie County Deputy Fire Marshal said with concern, removing the tires is important because “the old tires are a serious fire and environmental hazard.”

The common solution for many is to take their old tires to their local landfill. However, for many, they will be turned back because of state and local laws not permitting whole tires to be dropped off.

The EPA says on their website that abandoned tires in landfills provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other unwanted animals when stockpiled or illegally dumped. “Intact tires in a landfill tend to float to the surface of the trash heap where they make perfect homes for rodents and damage landfill liners, which can lead to even more environmental problems,” notes one tire disposal company.

This is where ArkLaTex Tire Processing, LP comes in. In November, with a vision of creating an environmentally friendly business that can serve the greater good, McLemore opened his first legal, regional tire disposal site in Cass County to serve the ArkLaTex region.

When ArkLaTex Tire Processing receives tires, each one is shredded and then finds its new home in one of the pits created in Linden during the mineral mining process. In fact, this is exactly why Linden was chosen because it was able to create an agreement with a mine in Cass County to meet legal requirements for tire disposal. Normally, says McLemore, facilities just can’t create new pits to dump tires. Finding pits like these that companies have left with huge holes are a perfect win-win.

Now their company can grind up tires brought to its facility and turn them into “tire derivative aggregate that is mixed with “inert material,” and then deposited into the hole. Once the pit is complete, says McLemore, “we put topsoil over the tires and plant tree farms, “We are actually reclaiming the land.” Also, what is great about the process, says McLemore, the hole that once was there created by these mining companies is now leveled back to where it was before the mining took place with beautiful trees growing on it.

McLemore states in a recent release that the “ATP’s permitted site has reserves to hold in excess of 25,000,000 passenger tire equivalents (PTE’s) under its first phase of reclamation and has the capacity to process 20 tons per hour of light truck/passenger tires (LTP’s) information from the company said. “That equates to 14,000 tires processed during an eight-hour shift or 42,000 tires over a 24-hour period.“

“The facility is open for tire generators, including retail stores and car dealerships, with “aggressive pricing,” the company reported. McLemore said the facility is open to the general public. Customers must provide transportation themselves, however, ArkLaTex Tire Processing said it can “help to facilitate transportation through its established network of permitting