Rubber, Tires, Foam & Elastomer Manufacturing calculator

Tire Scrap Value Calculator

End-of-life and manufacturing-reject tires carry both a recovery value (crumb rubber, steel, carbon char, fuel) and a disposal cost, and the net of the two decides whether scrap is an asset or a liability. This calculator combines your scrap tire count, recovered value per tire, the yield you actually capture, and the hauling and disposal fee into a single total and a net value per tire. Plant managers, recyclers, and sustainability leads use it to price scrap streams, negotiate with haulers, and decide between landfill, tire-derived fuel, and material recovery.

What this calculator does

  • Estimate the recovered value of scrap tires after accounting for reclaim yield and the flat hauling charge.
  • A retreader or new-tire plant uses this to value defective tire output against disposal cost when sizing a recycling credit.
  • It computes the total value of a scrap tire stream by applying recovery yield to per-tire value and adding the fixed hauling and disposal fee, then divides by tire count.

Formula used

  • Total scrap value = scrap tires x recovered value/tire x recovery yield% + hauling fee
  • Net value per tire = total scrap value / scrap tires generated

Inputs explained

  • Scrap tires generated:
  • Recovered material value per tire:
  • Material recovery yield:
  • Hauling and disposal fee:

How to use the result

  • Use it when negotiating a scrap-tire offtake contract, comparing disposal routes, or budgeting the cost or credit of a reject-tire batch.
  • The formula adds the hauling fee to value rather than subtracting it, so treat the fee as your convention (credit vs. cost) deliberately; recovered value per tire also swings widely with steel and crumb-rubber market prices.

Current U.S. benchmarks

  • The producer price index for plastic resins and materials stands at 319.371 (BLS, May 2026), up 19.5% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
  • U.S. light vehicles sell at a 16.9 million annual rate (BEA, Jun 2026), up 4.1% from a year earlier, the volume signal for automotive supply chains.
  • The U.S. has 11,391 plastics and rubber products establishments employing about 815,988 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

  • How do you calculate tire scrap value? Multiply scrap tires by recovered value per tire by recovery yield, then add the hauling fee. With 400 tires at $3.50 each, 70% yield, plus a $250 fee, that is 400 x 3.50 x 0.70 + 250 = $1,230 total.
  • What is the net value per scrap tire? Divide the total scrap value by the number of tires. At $1,230 across 400 tires, the net is $3.075 per tire, blending the $2.45 recovered value with the fee allocation.
  • Why does recovery yield matter so much? Yield is the fraction of theoretical material you actually capture after contamination, moisture, and process loss. Dropping from 70% to 60% on 400 tires at $3.50 cuts recovered value from $980 to $840.
  • Is scrap tire value a credit or a cost? It depends on your markets. When recovered crumb, steel, and fuel value exceed hauling and processing, scrap is a net credit; when disposal dominates, it is a cost. This tool lets you see both sides in one number.
  • What drives recovered value per tire? Steel scrap price, crumb-rubber demand, tire-derived-fuel offtake rates, and tire size all move it. A passenger tire recovers less steel and rubber than a truck tire, so segment your streams before pricing.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.