ANNAPOLIS, MD (November 5, 2001) - The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and the Rubber Manufacturers Association’s (RMA) Scrap Tire Management Council (STMC) announced that they would jointly host the first Mid-Atlantic Regional Scrap Tire Management Conference, November 8 – 9 at the Sheraton Barcelo Hotel in Annapolis, Maryland.

The scrap tire conference will focus on the scrap tire issues in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

"MDE is proud to partner with STMC in hosting the first mid-Atlantic regional conference of this kind,” said Richard W. Collins, director of the Maryland Department of the Environment’s Waste Management Administration. “We hope that this will promote the interaction of state regulators and market developers, and help us all better understand the markets for and the marketing of scrap tire-based products.”

The conference will feature presentations on the regional regulatory and legislative programs, as well as some of the major markets for scrap tires: products made from ground rubber, the outlook for the ground rubber industry; civil engineering applications, use of shreds in landfills and road construction and tire-derived fuel. The conference agenda will also offer discussions on processing scrap tires, the West Nile Virus situation and a review of state scrap tire programs in the region.

“We have long sought to have a regional conference in this section of the United States,” said Michael Blumenthal, RMA vice president and executive director of the STMC. “This area has one of the highest rates of scrap tire generation in the country, has some well established markets, but is also facing some major challenges including an uneven distribution of market. We have always held that this is an important area, since what occurs here has an impact on the entire scrap tire marketplace.”

For more information on the first Mid-Atlantic Regional Scrap Tire Management Conference call (202) 682-4882 or go online to: www.scraptire.org and click on the Conferences and Events link.

###​