Scrap Tire Recycling Market Development Grant
The Scrap Tire Recycling Market Development Grant offers funding for businesses in North Carolina to increase private-sector capacity to process and incorporate scrap tire materials into products and other end uses. Funding for this grant opportunity is allocated through the Scrap Tire Disposal Account (Session Law 2025-66).
NCDEQ is accepting viable, well-planned and effective proposals from businesses in North Carolina now through March 23, 2026. Grants may be used for equipment or infrastructure to expand the use of tire-derived fuel, crumb rubber, carbon black, or other components of tires for use in products such as fuel, tires, mats, auto parts, gaskets, flooring material, or other applications of processed tire materials.
Download the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Scrap Tire Recycling Market Development Grant using either link below.
For more information, please contact Emily Weaver at 919-707-8913.
Frequently Asked Questions
Private-sector applicants that accept and process discarded tires into scrap tire materials (tire-derived fuel, crumb rubber, carbon black, and other tire components) and/or manufacture value-added products using scrap tire materials are eligible for funding under this grant program. Examples of manufactured products include rubber mats, auto parts, flooring, gaskets, carbon black, or developers of tire-derived aggregate infrastructure.
Grants are limited to capital expenditures needed to establish or enhance capability for processing scrap tires for recycling or manufacturing products from scrap tire materials. Examples include:
- Manufacturing equipment or facility improvements to create a new product using rubber, carbon black, crumb rubber, or other products made from processed scrap tire materials (e.g., tires, mats, auto parts, gaskets, flooring material); and
- Recycling equipment, systems upgrades, or facility improvements to support intermediate processing of scrap tires and expand or modernize processing capacity (e.g., molding machines, extrusion tools, devulcanization units, dedicated processing lines, storage, material handling, pneumatic systems).
Grant funds may not be used for routine operating expenses or costs not directly tied to capital equipment or permanent facility improvements. Examples include:
- Operating expenses, such as salaries, rent/lease payments, utilities, fuel, routine maintenance, tipping or processing fees, and other recurring operational or production labor costs; and
- Non-capital/indirect costs, including land acquisition, marking, and general administrative costs.
October 1, 2025* - March 31, 2027
Grant contracts are expected to begin April 15, 2026, and end March 31, 2027.
*Retroactive funding may be requested for purchases dating back to October 1, 2025, provided the costs are included in the approved project budget and supported by itemized receipts/invoices and proof of payment.
Applicants must provide at least a 10% cash match of the requested grant amount.
Proposals will be accepted now through March 23, 2026. NCDEQ expects to award successful applicants and begin grant contracts in April 2026.