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Waste Programs Division: Solid Waste Management: Waste Tires

Changes in Waste Tire Regulations Brochure -- (PDF) (PDF en español)

Waste Tire Collection Facilities and Sites

Waste tire facilities are categorized by the number of tires stored on the site.

A waste tire collection site is defined in A.R.S. § 44-1301 (5) as a site where waste tires are collected before being offered for recycling or reuse and where more than 500 tires are kept on site on any day.

Facility Subject to Best Management Practices (BMP)

A site at which more than 500 and less than 5,000 waste tires are stored on any day and no tire is stored for more than 12 months. Counties and municipalities are not subject to the time limit restrictions.

  • Instructions for Registration of Outdoor Used Tire Sites (100 or More Used Tires) or Waste Tire Collection Sites (Over 500 Waste Tires) -- (PDF)

Facility Requiring Self Certification (A.R.S. § 49-762.05)

A waste tire facility at which 5,000 or more waste tires are stored on any day and no tire is stored for more than 12 months. Counties and municipalities are not subject to the time limit restrictions. Waste tire shredding and processing facilities also require self-certification.

  • Solid Waste Facilities Requiring Self-Certification Instructions and Registration Form -- (PDF)

Notice: Rules effective July 1, 2012 require self-certification facilities to pay a registration fee. The fees are for initial registration of new or existing facilities and subsequent annual registration.

Facility Requiring a Solid Waste Facility Plan Approval (A.R.S. § 49-762)

A site at which 500 or more waste tires are stored on any day and any tire is stored for more than 12 months. Waste tire collection sites owned by counties and municipalities are not subject to plan approval.

Other Waste Tire Sites

Sites that store more than 100 used tires outside on any day must comply with requirements of A.R.S. § 44-1304.01. It is unlawful to store one hundred or more used motor vehicle tires outdoors as follows:

  1. In any fashion that exceeds twenty feet in height.
  2. In a pile that is more than one hundred fifty feet from a twenty foot wide access route that allows fire control apparatus to approach the pile. Access routes between and around tire piles shall be at least twenty feet wide and maintained free of accumulations of rubbish, equipment or other materials. Access routes shall be spaced so that a maximum grid system unit of fifty feet by one hundred fifty feet is maintained.
  3. Within three feet of any property line.
  4. In any fashion that exceeds six feet in height if the used tires are stored between three and ten feet of any property line.
  5. Within fifty feet of any area in which smoking of tobacco or any other substance by persons is permitted. "No smoking" signs shall be posted in suitable and conspicuous locations.
  6. At any area in which the used motor vehicle tires are stored and in which electrical wiring, fixtures or appliances do not comply with the national electrical code.
  7. Without placing class "2A-10BC" type fire extinguishers at well marked points throughout the storage area so that the travel distance from any point in the storage area to a fire extinguisher is not more than seventy-five feet.
  8. Without prior registration of the site with ADEQ.
  9. A person who knowingly discards or abandons five hundred or more motor vehicle tires, discards or abandons any motor vehicle tires for commercial purposes except as provided in section 44-1304, or otherwise knowingly performs any act prohibited by subsection A of this section involving five hundred or more motor vehicle tires is guilty of a class 5 felony.
  10. The attorney general may enforce this section.
  11. As used in this section, "used motor vehicle tires" does not include tires that have been recapped and have not yet been put back into service.
Waste Tires ADEQ

County Collection Locations

Each county in Arizona provides a waste tire collection site (WTCS) that accepts tires from residents of that county. Each county resident may take up to five waste tires a year to the county's approved WTCS at no cost. Contact the appropriate county waste tire coordinator for the hours of operation and location of the WTCS in your county.

To register as a waste tire collection site, complete and submit the Waste Tire Collection Site Instructions and Registration Form -- (PDF).

Mining Tires

Mining industry off-road motor vehicle waste tires may be disposed of by burial at a mining facility (Arizona Revised Statutes § 44-1304(C) and Arizona Administrative Code, Title 18, Chapter 13, Article 12, Waste Tires.

Waste Tire Compliance/Enforcement Program

The Waste Tire Compliance/Enforcement Program is primarily involved with waste tire disposal activities relating to complaints, inspections, and enforcement actions.

Related Statutes

Contacts