Kentucky Grants Support Scrap Tire Markets

Funding from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (EEC) means more roads will be paved with rubberized asphalt mixes, more play areas will have rubber safety surfaces and more tires will be safely recovered and managed

The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet is awarding up to $502,838 in 2019 grant funding to five counties Clark, Fayette, Hardin, Hopkins, and Pulaski for rubber-modified asphalt projects utilizing crumb rubber manufactured from waste tires.

Counties can use the grant money for the application of chip seal or asphalt overlay on county or metro government roads. Chip seal is a road surface treatment that combines one or more layers of asphalt with one or more layers of fine aggregate, and can extend the life of a road by four to eight years. Rubberized chip seals incorporate up to 15 percent ground tire rubber in the asphalt mix. Asphalt overlay is a new layer of asphalt applied over an existing asphalt surface, and can extend the road life by seven to 10 years.

Each county government will go through a standard bid process for their respective projects. After bids have been received, grant funds will be awarded to each county matching the amount of the winning bid.

Cabinet Secretary Charles Snavely said the grant program is valuable because it promotes the use of recycled rubber from Kentucky waste tires, while enabling counties to fix distressed roadways. “This is a win for both the communities that get better roadways and for the environment,” he said.

This is the fourth year the Cabinet has offered this grant, which is funded through revenues derived from a $2 per tire fee on the sale of new tires in the state.

Grants help enhance parks and play areas.

The City of Glasgow and Old Mulkey Meeting House State Historic Site in Monroe County, Kentucky were among the recipients of a total of $500,471 in EEC grant funding.

The funds generally are for benches, picnic tables, landscaping, walking trails and pour-in-place surfacing projects that utilize recycled waste tires. The awarded amounts ranged from $78,750 for a walking trail at the American Legion Park in Green County to $1,258 for rubber playground mats for Robertson County Schools.

Glasgow is to receive $10,319, to be used for park benches and picnic tables, and the Meeting House was awarded $1,517 for the purchase of park benches. Twenty-one other recipients were named in the EEC announcement.

In Lewis County, officials say a $70,000 grant from the Kentucky EEC will be used to install a recycled tire pour-in-place rubberized surface on the playground in Pinnacle Park, putting the final piece in place for the completing an upgrade at the park in Garrison.

In addition to receiving the grant award, which county officials said was the second highest amount awarded, the park received support from Pinnacle Bank which donated the land for the project.

Several other communities will enhance the safety and accessibility of their play and recreation areas with pour-in-place rubberized surfacing. These include a $63,400 grant for Fordwoods Park in the City of Middleboro; $61,920 for Kendyl and Friends playground in Georgetown; $42,000 for Belville City Park in Dalton; $29,040 for Pulaski City Park: $20,373 for Baker Park in Dixon and $12,225 for the playground at Foust Elementary in Owensboro.

A number of Kentucky communities are using grants to improve public spaces with recycled rubber landscaping products, walkway surfaces and regular and wheelchair accessible park benches and picnic tables. Green County will use a $78,750 grant for rubberized surfacing on a walking trail. Owen Park will refresh landscaping in and around the park with recycled rubber products using a $22,018 grant. Park benches and picnic tables will be added to Gordon Park in Crofton purchased with a $21,453 grant. In Bardstown, the Parks Department received $18,379 for landscaping and park benches and tables. Letcher County will add park and trail benches and picnic tables at Fishpond Lake using its $11,597 grant.

The grants are available from the Waste Tire Trust Fund, established by the 1998 Kentucky General Assembly, which receives a $2 fee from the sale of each new tire in the state. The fund helps manage approximately five million scrap tires generated in Kentucky each year and promotes the development of markets for recycled tire products.

© Scrap Tire News, June 2019