Hands-On Science Center receives tire program grant

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) has announced a $35,522 grant for Hands-On Science Center from the state’s Tire Environmental Act Program. 

Hands-On Science Center, a science education hub in Tullahoma, will provide matching funds of $8,800 to build an eco-friendly outdoor area, the Eco-Explorer Zone, using approximately 1,200 scrap tires. The project costs $44,403 and will include a rubber mulch playground area and a vertical tire climbing structure. 

RELATED: Tennessee Tire Recycling receives $750,000 grant

“The Tire Environmental Act Program provides ways to retrieve old tires and repurpose them into community assets,” TDEC Deputy Commissioner Greg Young says. “These grants help make that happen, and we look forward to the results that come from this process.”   

The project will be an expansion of other outdoor facilities that the nonprofit was able to install last year with the assistance of funding from the tire grant. Hands-On Science Center will educate its visitors about recycling and sustainability through these exhibits and its quarterly newsletter. 

RELATED: Tennessee accepting solid waste management grant applications

Tire Environmental Act Program selects and funds projects that will best result in beneficial uses for waste tires. Projects must qualify for one of three categories: tire processing and recycling, tire-derived material use or research or development. The program provides grant funding to eligible entities, including local governments, nonprofit organizations, higher education institutions, K-12 schools and for-profit businesses. 

Tennessee established the Tire Environmental Fund in 2015. Upon the first retail sale of a new motor vehicle to be titled and registered in Tennessee, a flat fee based on the number of a vehicle’s wheels is assessed. The fee goes into the fund, which is used for projects creating or supporting beneficial end uses for waste tires. 

Since 2015, grantees have been awarded almost $9.2 million, and approximately 7.6 million tires, or nearly 82,000 tons, have been diverted from landfills. The tires are repurposed for use in rubberized asphalt, tire-derived aggregate, tire-derived fuel, granulated rubber porous flexible pavement and other beneficial end uses that result in tires being diverted from landfill for a higher and better use.