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Reuse, Reduce Last year roughly 1.8 million tires were discarded by New Mexicans either legally into landfills or illegally into the landscape. If Ernest Cordova had his way they would all be recycled and used in soil conservation projects, under roadways and in other construction projects. He owns Cordova and Sons out of Cuba, which manufactures bales using recycled tires. "Being conservationalists at heart, we believe that we have found hte perfect use for used tires," Cordova says. With the help of his wife, Fabby, Cordova, their son Frank, and other family members, Cordova's company offers eight different types of bales for construction purposes. The basic bale, called the earth block, contains 100 compressed tires, stands five feet tall and weighs one ton. Several government agencies have purchased Cordova's bales for erosion control projects. "Tire bales can also be used for building houses and in sound abatement projects. They have an R-value of 240, which means that they insulate very, very well," he says. Part of Cordova's business is to help municipalities clean up illegally discarded tires. He also has a regular route through Farmington, Santa Fe and Albuquerque to haul tires to his facility. Tire bales range in price starting with the basic earth block at $40 each to $60 for bales that include pipe or cable. Quarter- and half-size bales are also available for $20 and $35 respectively. For more information, call Cordova and Sons at (800) 806-6328. Saving tired tires Americans discard 270 million tires each year, says the Department of Environmental Quality, a huge burden for a nation trying to put the brakes on landfills. Cordova diverts about 100 tires from the landfill with each bale he manufactures, compacting the rubber into blocks convenient for building. Using tires instead of rocks or concrete for projects saves labor, time and money, he says; moreover, "tires are beautiful and work great if you do it right." Cordova also supplies tire bales to a new generation of tire recyclers at the Colorado School of the Mines in Colorado Springs. Engineering professor Bob Knecht says that his students have incorporated tires in their design projects for five years, and have built walls of tires that reduce highway noise five times better than any product on the market. "They work very well," he says. "Hopefully, they'll catch on." "It's a simple way to use something that's a real pain," says Stuart Hoenig, a retired engineering professor and a tire recycling advocate. "If the tires are just laying around, they get rainwater and insects in them, and they're a fire hazard." You can contact Cordova and Sons at 800/806-6328 or visit www.cordovaandsons.net to find a tire recycler near you. Tire guy says state
giving him a flat Ernest Cordova, owner of Cordova and Sons, is sitting on a mountain of scrap tires compressed into 2,000 pound bales stacked 10 feet high and stretching for more than the length of a football field on his private land in San Juan County. Cordova says the state encouraged him to start his business in 1997 and offered to help him in any way that it could. But the small business owner says the state has done nothing but hurt his business. Cordova's company makes money by hauling away or accepting scrap tires that are then compressed into bales and stored on site. The small business owner would like to start taking those bales and selling them to be used in erosion prevention and construction projects -- generating additional income and completing the full process of recycling. Because the state's tire recycling program finances the purchase of equipment used to make tire bales, municipalities and co-ops around the state who could potentially contract with Cordova to process their tires, instead cripple his business by doing the work themselves, and then flooding his already small market with bales that cost much less than his. Now, Cordova is sitting on a mountain of fines -- $165,000 worth -- in part, he says, because he can't sell his tire bales and he has fallen out of compliance with state rules that specify the number of tires he is permitted to hold. Cordova's lone permit allows him to hold 30,000 tires with an additional 100 bales, or 10,000 tires. The state Environment Department estimates there are more than 1 million tires that are sitting on Cordova's property. "We're working with him to get him an expanded permit," says John Goldstein, spokesman for the state Environment Department. "The settlement negotiations are about solving a problem." Because there is a shrinking market for his tire bales, Cordova must continue doing the one thing that brings him income -- collecting and depositing tires on site. Without a market for his bales, the cycle appears to be a never ending one. "It makes me angry that the government does not do more to complete the circle of recycling tires," Cordova says. Going around in circles "One of the problems with tires is that people collect them and pile them up before they have a market to take them to," he says. "This is what has been plaguing the scrap tire business from day one. These guys do not do their homework." On average, there is one scrap passenger tire created per year for every man, woman and child in the United States. In 2003, 285 million scrap tires were generated in the United States, Blumenthal says. To deal with the massive problem, new and innovative ways of reusing and recycling tires have been developed. Most of the nation's scrap tires are burned to produce energy, and millions more are shredded to be used in products like rubberized asphalt or playground equipment. Last year, there were more than 1.8 million scrap passenger tires generated in New Mexico, most of which ended up in bales that are either buried or used in civil engineering projects. To address the problem of scrap tires, in 1994 the state established a recurring fund for a tire recycling program. The program, which Blumenthal characterizes as focusing almost entirely on baling, has paid out approximately $2.4 million in grants to state co-ops and municipalities. In April, the state announced it would award a total of $475,000 in grants to six recipients, five of whom will use the money to buy tire baling equipment, which can cost between $50,000 and $60,000 -- a cost Cordova had to pay by himself. Private entities, such as Cordova's business, might not directly receive the state funds, but grant recipients can contract with him to provide baling and collection services. However, many grant recipients use the money to buy their own baling equipment and that takes away Cordova's ability to provide a fee-based service, he says. "Why don't they contract with me to do it for them?" Cordova asks. "We're not being supported by the government for the work that we are doing." That work includes accepting more than 95,000 scrap tires collected from illegal dumps around the state and more than 12,500 recalled tires collected from automobile dealerships and tire vendors. "I'm trying to get someone to listen to me. They are hurting us," Cordova says. Toni Duggan, head of the state's tire recycling program, and E. Gifford Stack, president of the New Mexico Recycling Association and program manager of the outreach portion of the Solid Waste Bureau, both say they want Cordova's business to succeed and they understand what he is saying. "Basically Mr. Cordova has a point and we have heard it from other private organizations that make [tire] bales," Duggan says. Duggan says the state is considering seeking alternative ways of addressing scrap tires, like burning them for fuel. Getting back on track "Some of them are really impressive," says Duggan, who has visited several of Cordova's installation sites. According to the Rubber Manufacturers Association, the use of scrap tires in civil engineering projects is on the rise. In 1998 the nation used 20 million tires in civil engineering projects and by the end of 2001 that figure climbed to 40 million. According to the Environmental Protection Agen-cy, there are more than 100 uses for scrap tires. Those uses have drawn Cordova's attention as a possible means for conquering his personal mountain. Dallas Halfacre is the CEO of Fort Collins, Colo.-based Rebound USA, a tire recycler and product manufacturer. He holds five patents for laminating tire strips together to form new products like parking stops, fence posts and construction beams. Halfacre says he has verbally committed to relocating his Colorado business, due to shut down later this month, to Cuba and partner with Cordova to establish a manufacturing plant. "It's going to happen this year," Halfacre says. "One way or the other." The plant, projected to occupy 20,000 square feet, recycle between 1 and 2 million scrap tires a year, and employ between 50 and 100 people, will produce Halfacre's recycled products using Cordova's and the state's tires. Blumenthal of the Rubber Manufacturer's Association, says converting scrap tires into a variety of products, not just tire bales, is one way to increase a recycling company's chances of survival. Halfacre says he already has the equipment and most of the funding needed for the plant and all he needs now is about $250,000 to build the facility in Cuba. He would also like to build a second, smaller facility near Taos. "In the next couple of years we would like to have two down there," Halfacre says. "By combining together [with Cordova], I think we can get rid of more tires than most can." Cordova says he is looking forward to the possibility of finally getting rid of all his excess tires. "Once this thing takes off and gets going, there won't be enough tires in New Mexico to do what we are doing," Cordova says. choltzman@bizjournals.com | 348-8324 |
Ernest
Cordova is "burning rubber" to come up with new ways to
put old tires to use. His family-owned business, Cordova and Sons
of Cuba, N.M., collects and recycles used tires to make bales for
landscaping and building projects.|
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