MINNESOTA'S ANSWER TO THE SCRAP TIRE DISPOSAL PROBLEM

Minnesota recently initiated an innovative two-pronged approach to combat the scrap tire disposal problem--legislation coupled with a publicly-financed but privately-operated recycling facility. In March 1986, Minnesota, acting through the Waste Management Board, in conjunction with St. Louis County, employed contract-controlled privatization to set up the financing for a scrap tire disposal plant in Babbitt, Minnesota. Proceeds from the tire disposal fund were used to finance the construction costs of the St. Louis County Waste Tire Recycling Facility. Minneapolis-based Rubber Research Elastomerics, Inc. (RRE) operates the facility under a leasing arrangement with St. Louis County. At full capacity, the plant can recycle all of Minnesota's estimated annual production of three million scrap passenger and truck tires and currently employs 42 full-time workers. Twenty additional people will be employed at the facility in the next 12 months. The capital costs of the project, financed through grants and loans to the county, will be repaid by RRE to the county during the first ten years of their 13-year lease. RRE manufactures and markets a series of rubber compounds under the TIRECYCLE trademark. Every part of the tire is recycled.