The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) has announced a $35,522 grant from the state’s Tire Environmental Act Program for the Hands-On Science Center in Tullahoma.
Hands-On Science Center, a science education hub in Tullahoma, will provide matching funds of $8,800 to build an eco-friendly outdoor area, the Eco-Explorer Zone, using approximately 1,200 scrap tires. The project costs $44,403 and will include a rubber mulch playground area and a vertical tire climbing structure.
“The Tire Environmental Act Program provides ways to retrieve old tires and repurpose them into community assets,” said TDEC Deputy Commissioner Greg Young. “These grants help make that happen, and we look forward to the results that come from this process.”
The project will expand other outdoor facilities that the non-profit installed last year with funding from the tire grant. Through these exhibits and its quarterly newsletter, the Hands-On Science Center will educate its visitors about recycling and sustainability.
The purpose of the Tire Environmental Act Program is to select and fund projects that best result in beneficial uses for waste tires. Projects must qualify for one of three categories: tire processing/recycling, tire-derived material use, or research and development. The program provides grant funding to eligible entities, including local governments, non-profit organizations, higher education institutions, K-12 schools, and for-profit businesses.
Tennessee established the Tire Environmental Fund in 2015. Upon the first retail sale of a new motor vehicle to be titled and registered in Tennessee, a flat fee based on the number of a vehicle’s wheels is assessed. The fee goes into the fund, which is used for projects creating or supporting beneficial end uses for waste tires.
Since 2015, grantees have been awarded almost $9.2 million, and approximately 7.6 million tires, or nearly 82,000 tons of scrap tires, have been diverted from landfills. The tires are repurposed for use in rubberized asphalt, tire-derived aggregate, tire-derived fuel, granulated rubber porous flexible pavement, and other beneficial end uses that result in tires being diverted from landfills for a higher and better use.
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