repurposing

Repurposing used tires

April 29, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Every year, millions of tires from cars and trucks end up in landfills. Just in the U.S., more than 270 million tires were scrapped in 2021 and more than 50 million of them ended up in landfills. Discarded tires take up huge amounts of space but, more importantly, create environmental hazards. They leach chemicals into the environment and are a serious fire hazard.

Some tires are chemically recycled via pyrolysis, which is a high-temperature process to decompose the materials in the tire. But that process introduces harmful byproducts like benzene and dioxins.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill have introduced a new chemical method for breaking down rubber waste. The process transforms discarded rubber into valuable precursors for epoxy resins.

Rubber – either natural rubber or the synthetic kind used in tires – is made of polymers cross-linked together to form a tough, flexible, and durable material. These very desirable properties make it difficult to break down rubber.

The new research has led to a two-step chemical process that breaks down the rubber into functional materials that be used to produce epoxy resins. The method does not require extremely high temperatures, uses aqueous media, and takes only six hours. It represents an efficient, scalable solution for repurposing rubber waste which, even as many other aspects of motor vehicle are changing for the better, remains a continuing environmental problem associated with driving.

This new research marks a significant step towards greener recycling technologies.

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A Cleaner Future for Tires: Scientists Pioneer Chemical Process to Repurpose Rubber Waste

Photo, posted May 5, 2011, courtesy of TireZoo via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Brownfields and solar power

December 19, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Brownfields are blighted lands that have suffered environmental contamination, making it very difficult to redevelop them or make good use of them. Generally, they are previously used lands that have the presence or at least the potential presence of hazardous substances, pollutants, or other contaminants at levels exceeding health-based or environmental standards. There are nearly half a million brownfields in the U.S. that are ripe for repurposing.

One very attractive use for brownfields is to convert them to “brightfields,” which is the colloquial term for brownfields redeveloped into solar projects. Estimates are that nearly 200,000 U.S. brownfield sites are eligible for brightfield conversion, which could provide hundreds of gigawatts of energy production. Over 10,000 of these sites are inactive landfills, which alone could power 8 million homes. Many of these sites have sat unused for decades.

A recent success story took place in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey where an abandoned waste site – designated a Superfund site by the EPA for decades – has now become a solar project that will generate more than $1.2 million a year for the township and will provide reduced-cost electricity for 400 homes, half of which are low- and moderate-income residents.

The site was on the EPA list of Superfund National Priorities , meaning it was considered one of the most serious abandoned hazardous waste sites. Such sites required continuous monitoring, modifications, and cleanup.

Projects like the Old Bridge solar project are likely to become increasingly common in the future, as legacy liabilities can be turned into valuable assets.

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How solar installations give new life to blighted brownfields

Photo, posted November 11, 2015, courtesy of Martin Malec via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Recycling Coal Plants | Earth Wise

April 27, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Over 300 coal-fired power plants in the US have stopping burning coal over the past decade. Only about 224 plants still produce power by burning coal. As a result, a new sort of recycling industry is taking shape: repurposing of coal plants.

Across the country, utilities are finding ways to redevelop these facilities. Some are industrial in nature and others a far cry from their original purpose.

In January, Beloit College in Wisconsin opened a student union and recreation center in what used to be an Alliant Energy coal-fired power plant. On the southern coast of Massachusetts, a shuttered 1,600 MW coal plant is being demolished to make way for a logistical port and support center for a planned wind farm 35 miles off shore.

In Independence, Missouri, the city is considering competing plans to recycle the Blue Valley Power plant. It may become a 50 MW battery storage facility, or possibly a biofuel plant.

Another popular reuse strategy is data centers. Data centers use tremendous amounts of power and therefore can make use of the former coal plants’ capacity to handle large amounts of electricity.

Retired coal-fired plants have built-in infrastructure and components that can be repurposed for new industry. The plants typically have access to rail, ports and waterways, as well as proximity to good highway transportation. The electrical grids to which they are connected can be reused for solar or wind farms at the site.

Given that coal plants are continuing to close, the potential to redevelop them in various ways continues to grow as well. There is a surge in interest in coal plant redevelopment because these facilities are assets of value.

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Coal-fired power plants finding new uses as data centers, clean energy hubs

Photo, posted January 10, 2017, courtesy of Rusty Clark via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.