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Waste Tire Management

Waste tires in Oregon can present environmental, health and safety hazards if not managed properly. Oregonians generate about four million waste tires per year and only about one third of them are recovered. The rest are shredded and disposed of in Oregon or out-of-state, or dumped illegally.

Illegal waste tire piles can accumulate rainwater which can become a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes. Large piles can catch fire, causing air and water pollution. And tire piles are just plain unsightly. 

Oregon's waste tire program is designed to prevent problematic storage and disposal of tires by regulating how they are collected and stored. It is also designed to encourage alternatives to disposal. Oregon law establishes a permitting system for waste tire carriers and storage sites, and also imposes a landfill ban on disposal of whole tires. Oregon Revised Statute 459.247 describes landfill bans. Statutes and Rules describing Oregon's waste tire program include: ORS 459.705 (Waste Tire Storage and Disposal); Oregon Administrative Rules 340 Chapters 93, 96 and 97 include waste tire carrier and waste tire storage requirements.

Recent passage of Senate Bill 792 impacts DMV Auto-Dismantler license holders in waste tire management. Effective Jan. 1, 2020, a DEQ waste tire storage permit is required if a facility holds more than 100 waste tires (Oregon Revised Statute 459.715). 

Frequently asked questions

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Facility
Permit No.
Permit Type
Contact Number
Dietrich Trucking LLC
1742 ​Carrier 360-892-3881
Second Life Recycling, LLC
1577 Carrier 208-850-6870
Tire Disposal Co., Inc. dba: Molalla Discount Tire
1263 ​Carrier/Storage 503-829-8322
Grizzly Transport, LLC
1362 Carrier 541-536-2010
Waste Management of Oregon
1294 Carrier
800-808-5901
McLean Landscaping - Maintenance
1492 Carrier 503-977-2057
Tire Disposal and Recycling, Inc.
1268 Carrier/Storage 503-240-1919
Columbia Recycling PDX
1458 Carrier/Storage 503-278-7013
Don G. Averill Trucking, Inc.
1572
Carrier
503-842-5189
Don G. Averill Recycling, Inc.
​1300 Carrier 503-842-5189
Doug Carothers
​1296 ​Carrier
503-648-7099
​SP Waste Tire Services
​1640 ​Carrier ​503-726-8347
​Tire Checkin, LLC
​1653
​Carrier
​503-381-1119
​Big B Tire
​1660
​Carrier

​541-746-4193​
​Economy Auto Parts
​1664
​Carrier /Storage
​503-282-9067

 

A waste tire, by law, is a tire "that is no longer suitable for its original intended purpose because of wear, damage or defect." DEQ's administrative rules clarify this definition to include "recappable casings."

Tires both on and off rims can be considered waste tires. However, a used tire which can be resold for use as a tire on a vehicle, tires on rims that are used to tow abandoned vehicles into a shop or tires used as stands to hold up wrecked vehicles, are not waste tires.

​Waste tire carrier permits are issued by DEQ to ensure that waste tires generated in the State of Oregon are transported only by individuals/businesses authorized to transport waste tires to processing or disposal facilities authorized by the Department.

​​Any person who is in the business of collecting or transporting waste tires. This requirement applies regardless of how the person or business obtains custody of the tires or whether the tires are bought or obtained free of charge.

​Any person whose primary tire business is the sale of used tires must get a permit if that person/business hauls waste tires.

​​If you store more than 100 waste tires at any one time, you must have a waste tire storage permit. Retreaders may store up to 3,000 tires before they must get a permit. Tire retailers may store up to 1,500 waste tires without a permit. If you provide both waste tire carrier and waste tire storage services, you will need to apply for both a waste tire carrier permit and a waste tire storage​ permits.

  • Solid waste collectors operating under a license or franchise from any local government unit.
  • A private individual transporting the individuals own waste tires to a processor or to a DEQ permitted disposal site authorized to receive waste tires.
  • A private carrier transporting the carriers own waste tires to a DEQ permitted waste tire storage site for processing or to a DEQ permitted waste tire disposal site authorized to receive waste tires.
  • A person transporting fewer than five tires to a processor or for proper disposal.
  • Persons transporting tire-derived products to a market.
  • Persons transporting tire chips that meet the chipping standards in OAR 340-093-0190.
  • The United States, the State of Oregon, any county, city, town or municipality in this state or any agency of the United States, the State of Oregon or a county, city, town or municipality of this state.

Ask the DEQ program contact person for your region.

​Franchised garbage haulers are specifically exempted from the permit requirement.

A waste tire carrier permit application must be accompanied by a $25 application fee as well as a bond (or other form of financial assurance acceptable to the Department) in the amount of $5,000.
Each permitted waste tire carrier will pay an annual compliance fee of $200.  

A waste tire storage permit application must be accompanied by a $250 application fee and the waste tire storage site will need to provide financial assurance based on the quantity of waste tires stored on site as well as quantity of tire derived products stored on site. Each permitted waste tire storage site will pay an annual compliance fee of $250.​

​​To add other vehicles to your permit, update your permit operating plan and return it to DEQ for approval. A copy of your waste tire carrier permit must be located within each vehicle used to transport waste tires.

​No. In order to haul waste tires, you must use only a permitted vehicle.

​​Contact a bonding or insurance company. Use a standard bond form provided by DEQ. If you cannot obtain a bond, the Department will accept other types of financial assurance, but you must obtain special forms from the Department to do this. Remember that any financial assurance provided by you will be held by the Department for two years after the end of your tire hauling activities.

​​No. Bonds must be renewed annually. Failure to keep your bond active will result in the suspension of your waste tire carrier permit. Keeping a bond active usually means paying your bonding company's annual premium.

​​You can take your tires to any site approved by DEQ and listed on your permit. In the application process, you submit the names of sites you want to use. The Department approves sites that are acceptable. You may add other sites at a later date by filing an amended operating plan. If you are hauling waste tires out-of-state, the facility must be authorized by the state or local government there.

​Permitted waste tire carriers and waste tire storage sites are required to submit to DEQ an annual report including the number of waste tires picked up and disposed of, number of waste tires received, quantities of tire derived product produced, stored and transported, vehicle use daily record and other information required by DEQ. Waste tire collection and disposal records must be kept for at least five years.

​Yes. Any person/business who handles or generates more than 100 waste tires per year must keep a log of the amount of waste tires generated and handled. In addition, anyone who generates any number of waste tires must keep receipts to establish that the tires were properly disposed of. This requirement includes both those having their tires hauled by a permitted waste tire carrier and those hauling their own waste tires. These receipts must be kept for a period of two years following disposal of the tires.

​Any person/business that cannot show receipts demonstrating proper disposal of tires may be subject to fine by the Department.





Contacts

Eastern Region
Eric Boone, 541-213-0391
Baker, Crook, Deschutes, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Hood River, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Wasco, and Wheeler counties 
 
Northwest Region
Inez Lawson, 503-936-9230
Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Multnomah, Tillamook, and Washington counties
 
Western Region
Craig Filip, 541-686-7868
Benton,  Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties

Jason Zanni, 541-776-6148
Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jackson and Josephine counties