Rubber Meets the Road: The Fight to Keep Tire Recycling Local in Memphis

When you spot an illegally dumped tire on the side of a Memphis road, you probably see a nuisance. Corteney Mack sees potential.

Mack is the co-founder of Memphis Tire Recyclers, LLC (MTR), a company born out of a desperate need to clean up the city. Six years ago, Mack’s business partner—who previously worked with a local beautification agency—realized a glaring issue: Shelby County had a massive illegal tire dumping problem, and there was no organic, local way to recycle them. Tires had to be hauled all the way to Bristol, Tennessee, just to be disposed of properly.

Today, MTR stands as one of only two full-service tire recycling plants in the entire state of Tennessee. Acting as the recycling hub for West Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi, MTR is on a mission to provide an ethical, 100% sustainable way to dispose of the rubber that blights our streets.

A 100% Landfill-Free Vision

"Our goal and objective is to basically provide the community with an ethical means to dispose of tires," Mack explains. "Not to landfilling, because none of the landfills around here will take tires, and not to leave them on our streets."

Instead of letting tires rot in wooded areas or municipal dumps, MTR’s facility shreds hundreds of thousands of tires into highly useful materials. By doing so, they are actively supplying raw materials for several major industries:

• Tire-Derived Fuel (TDF): Two-inch rubber chips that burn hotter and cheaper than coal, providing a highly efficient fuel source for industrial boilers.
• Crumb Rubber: Quarter-inch chips used to create safe, shock-absorbent surfaces for parks, playgrounds, and athletic tracks.
• Aggregate Material: Impenetrable rubber lining used by civil engineers for bridge construction and septic tanks.
• Marine Applications: Repurposed sidewalls used to line the hulls of commercial shipping vessels.

Deep Roots in the Local Community

MTR doesn't just recycle waste; they actively reinvest in the neighborhoods where they operate. Employing between 15 and 18 local workers at any given time, the company has made it a priority to be a good neighbor.

Understanding the heavy toll that illegal dumping takes on local areas, MTR has frequently worked with residents to help eliminate neighborhood blight. Their involvement doesn't stop at the facility gates. MTR leadership has served on community boards, sponsored backpack drives, funded scholarships, and organized free neighborhood cleanups.

Despite their dedication to clearing out local blight and providing a much-needed service to the region, the company now finds itself fighting a different kind of battle.

The Hometown Advantage vs. Red Tape

Tomorrow morning, MTR is taking their fight to the Shelby County Commission. After successfully managing the county's waste tire contract for the last two and a half years, MTR’s latest bid was rejected by the purchasing department over a frustrating technicality.

The county’s request for proposals asked for vendors who could shred and recycle and/or shred and landfill. Because MTR strictly recycles 100% of its tires and refuses to use landfills (noting that local landfills do not even accept tires), they marked the landfill fee section as "N/A"—just as they had on their previous, successful bid. The purchasing department labeled the bid "incomplete" and opted to award the contract to MTR's out-of-town competitor.

The cost to the taxpayers? Significant.

By disqualifying the hometown team over a "Not Applicable" line item, the county is poised to spend nearly $72,000 more in taxpayer dollars for a service that involves landfilling rather than total recycling.

For Mack and his team, tomorrow’s 8:30 AM commission meeting isn't just about winning a contract. It's about protecting the sanctity of the sealed bid process, saving taxpayer money, and ensuring that the work of cleaning up Memphis stays in the hands of the people who actually call Memphis home.