ArkLaTex Tire Processing has opened its first facility to provide a way for East Texans and surrounding regions to dispose of tires.
The company opened its first location in Linden in Cass County, said Operations Director Stephen McLemore, but he said the company does have plans to expand into other locations.
“This strategic location allows customers to easily and legally dispose of tires at the end of their useful life,” information from the company said.
McLemore, who said he’s mostly been involved in manufacturing, said the company is “very interested in environmental cleanup and really creating opportunities for responsible disposal and reclamation of products.”
“Our widget happens to be tires,” he said.
Information from the company said its principals have more than 75 years of management and operations experience and hands-on ownership experience in the recycling, repurposing and disposal industry.
McLemore said the facility is the only one of its kind in the area, with ArkLaTex Tire Processing prepared to serve the East Texas region, including Longview, Marshall, Kilgore, Tyler, Mount Pleasant, Lufkin, Palestine, Texarkana and surrounding communities, as well as southwest Arkansas and northwest Louisiana.
“There are a lot of illegal tire dumps not only around the state but around the region and around the country,” McLemore said. “We’re looking to help solve some of those problems.”
The tire processing facility decided to locate in Linden because it was able to create an agreement with a mine in Cass County to meet legal requirements for tire disposal. He said these kinds of facilities can’t create their own new pits for tire disposal, which is why the agreement with the mine was needed. ArkLaTex Tire Processing will use pits created during the mining process, grind up tires brought to its facility and turn them into “tire derivative aggregate. That is mixed with “inert material,” or direct, and deposited into a pit.
“Once the pit is complete, we will put topsoil on top of the soil and plant tree farms,” McLemore said. “We are actually reclaiming the land.”
The facility will be open for tire generators, including retail stores and car dealerships, with “aggressive pricing,” the company reported. McLemore said the facility also will be open to the general public. Customers must provide transportation themselves, although ArkLaTex Tire Processing said it can “help to facilitate transportation through its established network of permitting transporters.”
“ATP’s permitted site has reserves to hold in excess of 25,000,000 passenger tire equivalents (PTE’s) under its first phase of reclamation and has the capacity to process 20 tons per hour of light truck/passenger tires (LTP’s) information from the company said. “That equates 14,000 tires processed during an eight-hour shift or 42,000 tires over a 24-hour period. “
ArkLaTex Tire Processing built its location “from scratch” on about 1 acre, and it can expand to whatever size is needed, McLemore said. Three full-time employees and two contractors currently work there, and McLemore expects the facility will employ five to seven people within the next six to 12 months.
McLemore said the facility’s size and services will have a “long-lasting positive impact on the region.”
“Historically, waste tires have been transported outside of the local market, creating higher costs for proper disposal,” he said. “Due to ATP’s proximity to the markets it serves, we are able to provide more competitive rates. This will deliver a positive economic impact to those involved with generating, transporting, recycling, or legally disposing of waste tires. The largest positive impact may be the overall reduction in illegal dumping sites around East Texas.”
For information, visit www.processtires.com or call (903) 918-0002 or (903) 238-7805. The facility at 932 CR 1123 in Linden accepts tires starting at 7:30 a.m. Monday through Friday.