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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 Chapter 64 (Waste Tire Program).

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). 

Please contact DEQ if you need assistance related to this change.

Frequently asked questions

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Facility
Permit No.
Permit Type
Contact Number
Dietrich Trucking LLC​
 ​1652 ​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 ​Carrie/Storage ​503-278-7013
RB Recycling, Inc.
 ​1411 ​Carrier/Storage ​503-283-2261
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​
​Tire Checkin, LLC.​

​1653
​Carrier
​503-381-1119
​Economy Auto Parts
​1664
​Carrier /Storage
​503-282-9067
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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 need both a carrier and storage permit, you can get a waste tire combo permit instead of two separate 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 for proper disposal.
  • A private carrier transporting the carriers own waste tires to a processor or for proper disposal.
  • 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 340-064-0052.
  • The Unites 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 permit will cost $175, plus $25 for each vehicle permitted. There is an additional one-time application fee of $25. A bond (or other form of financial assurance acceptable to the Department) in the amount of $5,000 is also required. Only the motorized vehicle is permitted. Trailers attached to motorized vehicles do not need a permit. Permits are usually issued for three years. There is an annual fee of $175, payable in February of each year of the permit.
​To add other vehicles to your permit, obtain an operating plan from the Department, fill it out showing the new vehicle, and return it to the Department. Submit $25 for each new vehicle, along with the operating plan.
​No. In order to haul waste tires, you must use only a permitted vehicle.
​A permittee must obtain a special permit option in order to haul tires with leased vehicles. Vehicles must be leased on a short-term basis (less than 30 days). Once a permittee has obtained the short-term lease option, the option can be used at any time. The Department will provide special cab cards for the leased vehicles.
​No, because your carrier bond does not cover contract agreements. You are permitted to haul used/waste tires. You are not permitted to contract with a person who is not a DEQ permitted waste tire carrier. If you lease vehicles on a short-term basis, it is you or your employee who must operate the vehicle. If someone other than you or your employee operates the vehicle, it is contracting, not leasing.
​No. There is a special common carrier class waste tire carrier permit for trucking companies with more than 15 vehicles in their fleet. They may pay a single fee of $375 (in addition to regular waste tire carrier permit fees) to cover their fleet instead of buying a decal for each 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 are required to submit to the Department an annual report of the number of waste tires picked up and disposed of. Records of the number of tires collected must be kept for at least three years; records on where the tires were disposed of should be kept for 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, 503-229-5529
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