DALLAS – (March 28, 2014) This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the State of Texas Alliance for Recycling (STAR), held a workshop in El Paso to help turn a source of pollution into a resource.

Each year, the U.S.-Mexico border region deals with millions of discarded tires, which pile up and attract pests. Finding ways to manage these scrap tires is an important goal of EPA’s Border 2020 U.S.-Mexico environmental program. Over the past few years, the program has made good progress by engaging local residents in cleanup efforts. This included removing six million tires from a pile in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, which were converted into fuel.

This week’s workshop brought together a variety of stakeholders from the U.S. and Mexico, including representatives from state agencies and municipalities, the tire industry, public utilities, and elected officials. By bringing so many perspectives together, the workshop aimed to define the future of scrap tire management and develop markets for the material instead of simply filling landfills. Organizers hope ideas and practices discussed at the workshop can work throughout the Border region, as well as in other areas of the world where scrap tires are a problem.

For more information on EPA’s Border 2020 program:
http://www2.epa.gov/border2020

For more information on EPA’s Sustainable Materials Management program:
http://www.epa.gov/smm
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