PITTSBURGH — A national tire recycler is opening two facilities in Alabama, including one in North Alabama, following the state’s decision to end the practice of landfilling whole tires.
Liberty Tire Recycling said a facility in the Mobile area will open early next year to serve southern and central Alabama and it will announce a facility in North Alabama to open later in the year.
The new facilities will develop innovative, economic uses for waste tires and provide the infrastructure Alabama needs to manage waste tires responsibly, the company said.
“Recycling and reuse are vitally important to Alabama’s environment and economy,” said Edward Poolos, director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. “We are excited to welcome Liberty Tire Recycling to Alabama and look forward to working with them.”
In a news release, Liberty said the facilities will produce tire-derived fuel — a low-emissions fuel source used by pulp and paper facilities and cement kilns — and create up to 60 well-paying jobs with excellent benefits in Alabama.
Liberty’s North Alabama location will also produce rubber feedstock that will be converted into crumb rubber and used in manufacturing.
“We are very excited to enhance the recycling footprint in Alabama,” said Thomas Womble, CEO of Liberty Tire Recycling. “Our new locations, and the investments they represent, mean we are even better positioned to meet the needs and recycling initiatives of manufacturers and our other recycling partners.”
Liberty said it will be able to process over 4 million tires in the state and serve communities in Alabama, Mississippi, and North Florida.
In 2024, Alabama decided to phase out the practice of landfilling whole waste tires over the next several years.
Alabama is the only state in the Southeast that allows the landfilling of whole waste tires. The result is tires that could otherwise be recycled into beneficial products end up in Alabama landfills, taking up valuable landfill space and creating breeding grounds for mosquitos.
This practice also results in millions of waste tires from surrounding states being dumped in Alabama, placing an unfair burden on the state and its citizens, the company said.
Liberty already collects waste tires in Alabama and recycles them at its facilities in adjoining states.
The new facilities will help the company partner with retailers, tire manufacturers, and local governments in Alabama to manage and recycle the millions of waste tires the state produces each year, creating jobs and boosting the local economy.
In addition to tire-derived fuel, Liberty also produces consumer goods, asphalt mixes, rubber aggregate, and playground materials made from recycled rubber. The company also supplies recycled rubber feedstock to American manufacturers and steel wire for recycled steel products.
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