Tire Shredder in High Ridge To Expand, Add Jobs

is expanding, adding dozens of new jobs to its operation.

On Monday, the Jefferson County Council approved changing the zoning on the Tire Shredders property on 4519 Commerce Ave., off Little Brennan Road, to an industrial zone from a commercial zone.

Owner Norvill Brown is making a $7.5-million investment in new high-speed equipment and a new plant on the property.

He said the change will nearly triple his business by adding about 42 employees to his current 16-person payroll.

Ed Boyer, of EA Boyer Building & Design, said the new high-speed plant will handle up to 20 tons of tires an hour, processing the rubber into landscaping material. 

Previously, the plant processed tires into fuel chips that power companies burn with coal. That process, he said, is outdated.

Boyer said the new process will not add volume to the plant, but will allow tires to be processed faster and into a more readily useable product, reducing the need storing tires on the property.

“We’re not bringing more tires in. We’re merely taking a raw product and making it into a useable product,” Boyer said. “We’re not adding any traffic.”

Victor Hill, who lives on Forest Lane near the Tire Shredders property, expressed concern about noise and mosquitos in the area.

Boyer said planned buffers should reduce noise from the plant, and Tire Shredders has recently implemented a new treatment program for mosquitos, which live and breed in water standing in stored tires.

Brown said the plant was expected to run about 12 hours a day during the summer months and about eight hours a day in the winter.

Brown said he hoped to have the plant up and running within six months.