How Much Does a Tire Weigh?
The average passenger car tire weighs between 20 and 22 pounds, light truck tires less than 17 inches in diameter weigh around 35 pounds, and semi-truck tires weigh between 105 and 110 pounds. The weight of off-road tires varies depending on use, such as for agriculture, mining or large equipment. Scrap tires weigh less than new ones. Passenger tires weigh 25 pounds new, while they weigh 20 pounds as scrap.
Approximately one scrap tire is generated per person per year in the United States. Of those scrap tires, 77.6 percent of them are recycled in some way. Forty percent of recycled tires are used for tire-derived fuel in power plants, cement kilns and industrial boilers to supplement their main fuel. Civil engineering projects, shredded rubber, exports and agriculture account for other recycled tire products.
Retreaded tires are made from 75 percent recycled content, and new tires have no more than 2 percent recycled rubber. Retreading uses 7 gallons of oil to produce a used truck tire compared to 22 gallons needed to produce one new truck tire. Retreaded tires are most commonly used on school buses, airplanes and commercial trucking fleets.
Passenger cars generate 80 percent of the waste tire market in the United States. Waste tires account for 1.8 percent of landfill waste by weight annually. Vehicle tires are made from natural rubber, synthetic rubber, carbon black, steel and fillers.
