Innovation, Leadership, Market Development, Collaboration
The Tire Recycling Foundation Circle of Change Awards program is a national recognition program honoring organizations, teams, and individuals who are advancing tire recycling technologies, expanding end-use markets, and demonstrating leadership in sustainability and circular economy principles.
The Circle of Change Awards highlight the people and partnerships turning challenges into opportunities, building markets, driving innovation, and shaping a more sustainable future for end-of-life tire management across the United States.
The Tire Recycling Foundation (TRF) is pleased to announce the finalists for its inaugural Circle of Change Awards. These finalists were selected by an independent panel of expert judges based on their achievements in advancing sustainable tire recycling, circular solutions, and high-value end-use markets.
• Phibro rCB, LLC
• Bolder Industries & Pirelli Tire LLC
This category recognizes projects that have found new and inventive applications for recycled tire materials, demonstrating that end-of-life tires are a versatile resource for solving real infrastructure and environmental challenges.
Bolton & Menk designed an innovative stormwater best management practice system for the City of Woodbury Public Works and Parks Maintenance Facility expansion that integrates porous asphalt with underground tire-derived aggregate storage and infiltration basins. The project demonstrates how TDA can serve as a high-performing green-infrastructure component beneath functional parking areas.
The City of Woodbury needed to meet updated watershed-district stormwater requirements while supporting facility expansion, managing runoff from large impervious areas, and advancing its sustainability goals as a Minnesota GreenStep City.
The design team combined infiltration basins, wet sedimentation basins, a hydrodynamic separator, porous asphalt, and underground TDA infiltration zones. TDA was selected for its high void space, permeability, and lightweight structure, allowing runoff to be stored and infiltrated beneath the parking area while also reducing material costs compared with conventional stone aggregate.
The Impact
LHB Engineering and the St. Paul Port Authority redeveloped the former Old Midway Stadium brownfield site using a large underground tire-derived aggregate (TDA) stormwater retention and infiltration system. The project paired brownfield remediation with resilient stormwater design so the property could be redeveloped without increasing contamination risks to nearby waters.
Redeveloping the site meant managing higher stormwater volumes on a brownfield property in a way that prevented water from moving through contaminated soils and carrying pollutants toward the Mississippi River. Redevelopment would increase impervious cover from 48% to 76%, so the project needed a stormwater system that could safely manage higher runoff volumes without allowing infiltration through contaminated soils.
LHB engineered a stormwater system using about 30,000 cubic yards of TDA to collect, store, treat, and infiltrate runoff in a designated uncontaminated area. The design included geotextile and sand layers to protect long-term performance and an overflow connection to the municipal storm sewer for extreme events beyond system capacity.
The Impact
Liberty Tire Recycling partnered with the Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT), the University of Georgia, and The Ray on a downtown Atlanta rubber-modified asphalt pilot designed to improve pavement performance while also evaluating urban heat-island benefits. The project uses a high-visibility resurfacing corridor to test whether tire-rubber asphalt can deliver transportation and climate advantages together.
Atlanta needed a resurfacing solution for its busy downtown streets that could handle heavy traffic within tight maintenance windows while also testing whether pavement innovation could help reduce localized urban heat burdens.
The team selected Ellis Street for a pilot application of rubber-modified asphalt incorporating recycled tire rubber supplied by Liberty Tire Recycling. This pavement project was also structured as a monitored climate and performance demonstration, with partners evaluating pavement durability, noise, and heat-related outcomes over time.
The Impact
This category recognizes state programs that have built the policy frameworks, funding structures, and market incentives needed to make end-of-life tire management work at scale, and that other states can learn from.
Colorado’s Waste Tire Program at the Department of Public Health and Environment is a statewide market-development program that uses rebates, grants, technical assistance, and industry engagement to expand beneficial end uses for waste tires and keep them out of stockpiles and illegal disposal channels. The program supports end uses such as tire-derived fuel, civil engineering applications, and molded products while positioning waste tires as a long-term resource rather than a waste liability.
CDPHE built a multi-pronged program centered on end-user rebates, market development grants, consultant support, and annual industry conferences. Each year, Colorado manages more than six million waste tires, and this program is how the state is turning that challenge into a long term circular economy opportunity. The Colorado Waste Tire Program helped launch broader market-development efforts, including technical testing of tire-derived products, educational outreach, and support for the Waste Tire Management Enterprise Fund and Board created under Senate Bill 24-123. The program supports end uses such as tire derived fuel, civil engineering applications, and molded products while positioning waste tires as a resource rather than a waste liability.
The Impact
North Carolina’s Scrap Tire Program Modernization updated the state’s funding framework so that tire-tax revenues again support scrap tire management and, once core county needs are met, future market-development incentives. The reform was designed to stabilize the state’s collection and recycling system first, then create a stronger platform for higher-value end markets.
North Carolina needed a more reliable, long term way to fund county end-of-life tire collection and recycling so local programs could stay stable, prevent illegal dumping, and give recyclers the confidence to invest in new capacity and markets.
SB 706 reestablished a dedicated Scrap Tire Disposal Account funded with 30% of tire-tax revenues, prioritized county reimbursement, and created a phased path for using surplus funds to support end-market incentives. The structure intentionally puts system stability ahead of market expansion so new end uses can grow on a more reliable operational foundation.
The Impact
This category recognizes efforts that have built sustained, scalable demand for tire-derived products, turning recycled tire materials into a reliable component of state and regional infrastructure programs.
Alabama’s State Parks Rubberized Asphalt Program is a coordinated market-development initiative led by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), Alabama State Parks, and Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) to use recycled tire rubber in park roads and parking areas. The effort turns end-of-life tire program funding into visible infrastructure projects that build demand for rubber-modified asphalt.
The agencies aligned environmental grants, park investments, and project delivery around rubber-modified asphalt resurfacing projects at Lake Guntersville, DeSoto, and Joe Wheeler State Parks. By using state-led demonstration projects in public assets, the program created a practical pathway for market growth and public visibility. The project model addressed both material recovery of used tires to reduce stockpiles and infrastructure performance at the same time.
The Impact
This Michigan-based collaboration advanced multiple tire-derived material applications through cross-sector demonstrations, technical outreach, and field validation involving public agencies, universities, private firms, and nonprofit partners. While New markets often face skepticism related to specifications, performance validation, and familiarity among engineers, public owners, and contractors, this project provided strong proof points and stakeholder alignment to expand adoption of tire-derived aggregate, rubber-modified asphalt, and porous paving applications. The initiative centered on showing that recycled tire materials can solve practical transportation and stormwater challenges while building market confidence.
The team brought together state agencies, technical experts, researchers, and commercial suppliers to demonstrate several applications, share performance information, and increase practitioner exposure through workshops, field visits, and collaborative pilot work. This multi-partner model helps connect material supply, technical design, and public-sector implementation.
The Impact
This category recognizes partnerships across the tire recycling supply chain that are closing the loop – creating traceable, circular systems that return end-of-life tire materials back into productive use.
Phibro rCB built a circular supply-chain model that connects end-of-life tire processors, regulators, certification systems, and downstream customers using recovered materials in new tire production. The company’s work centers on proving that pyrolysis-derived materials can be integrated into commercial supply chains with the quality assurance and traceability expected by large manufacturers.
Phibro acquired an idle end-of-life tire pyrolysis plant, secured permits, rebuilt supply relationships, and met customer qualification requirements, and align multiple partners across the recycling and manufacturing value chain. The broader challenge was demonstrating long-term, reliable supply of sustainable carbon black alternatives into mainstream industrial markets.
Phibro rehired key personnel, invested in the facility, restarted operations, developed tire-chip supply contracts with independent processors, and qualified its products under ISO 9001:2015, ISCC PLUS, and customer quality programs. It also maintained active engagement with agencies and customers to support both regulatory compliance and commercial acceptance.
The Impact
The facility has a capacity of 24,000 metric tons of chips in Mississippi and a growth pathway based on additional facilities.
Source: Phibro rCB, LLC
Bolder Industries and Pirelli North America created a fully traceable circular flow that converts manufacturing scrap tires from Pirelli’s Rome, Georgia plant into recovered carbon black and then reincorporates that material into new tire production at Pirelli’s Silao, Mexico facility. The initiative demonstrates a closed-loop, cross-border model for circular tire manufacturing.
Bolder Industries and Pirelli LLC established an integrated system linking scrap-tire generation, processing, pyrolysis conversion, certified traceability, and reintegration into commercial tire manufacturing. Bolder’s ISCC PLUS-certified, mass-balance and quality-management framework helped ensure that recovered carbon black could meet Pirelli’s operational and performance requirements.
The Impact
The program validates that recovered materials can be integrated into commercial tire manufacturing at scale.
The project is described as the first fully traceable, circular scrap tire-to-tire program implemented at the Pirelli Group level with Bolder.
Nominations for the 2026 cycle closed on February 8.
Recognizes groundbreaking technologies, products, or processes that use recycled tire rubber in new and impactful ways.
Focus: Technological advancement, commercialization, and sustainability impact.
Examples: Rubber-modified asphalt, molded products, pyrolysis, flooring, and other innovative applications.
Honors state agencies or statewide programs that demonstrate exceptional leadership and measurable impact in advancing tire recycling within a circular economy framework.
Focus: Systems-level transformation, cross-sector collaboration, and replicable success.
Celebrates outstanding efforts to grow end-use markets for tire-derived materials through education, policy, marketing, or advocacy initiatives.
Focus: Measurable market growth, increased adoption, and long-term strategy.
Recognizes exemplary partnerships between multiple stakeholders in the tire recycling value chain that yield measurable improvements in efficiency, economics, or environmental performance.
Focus: Collaboration, shared success, and real-world impact.
Award recipients will receive:
Applications and Nominations Open: December 15, 2025
Deadline for Applications and Nominations: February 8, 2026
Finalists Announced: March 9, 2026
Winners Announced & Awards Presented: May 14, 2026, at the Tire Recycling Conference Awards Luncheon in Denver, Colorado
To ensure fairness and transparency, all nominations will be reviewed and evaluated by a Selection Committee composed of a diverse group of independent industry experts and Tire Recycling Foundation representatives.
There will be one award recipient per category; however, the committee may grant Honorable Mentions at its discretion.
All nominations must be submitted using the official Tire Recycling Foundation Awards Nomination Form. Incomplete submissions or those exceeding the stated word limits may not be considered.
All nominations must be submitted electronically by 11:59 PM ET on February 8, 2026.
This award honors a person, team, or organization that has developed or commercialized a groundbreaking technology, product, or process that uses recycled tire rubber in an innovative way. The winning innovation must demonstrate scalability, market impact, and sustainability.
Nomination Criteria:
Supporting data, case studies, or pilot results are strongly encouraged.
Recognizes a state government, environmental agency, or statewide program that has demonstrated exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact in advancing tire recycling within a circular economy model. This includes policies, pilot programs, public-private partnerships, infrastructure investments, or market development strategies that are actively moving markets, scaling impact, and creating a replicable model for others.
This recognizes those public entities that aren't just managing scrap tires but redefining what's possible for their end use — from rubberized asphalt and civil engineering applications to new consumer or industrial products.
Nomination Criteria:
This award celebrates outstanding efforts to expand and strengthen end-use markets for tire-derived materials. It recognizes marketing, sales, education, or advocacy initiatives that have successfully increased demand or adoption in sectors such as infrastructure, landscaping, molded goods, or construction.
Nomination Criteria:
This award recognizes effective collaboration between two or more stakeholders in the scrap tire value chain—such as haulers, processors, manufacturers, regulators, or end-users—leading to tangible benefits like improved logistics, increased recycling rates, or expanded end markets.
Nomination Criteria:
Letters of support from collaborators are encouraged.