According to an article from June 22, 2009 on recyclingtoday.com Liberty Tire Company, which is one of the largest tire recycling companies in the entire country, has bought the Texas based company Able Tire Co. According to the article, the deal will merge the scrap tire market in Texas and Oklahoma. Able tire has been in business for about sixteen years and they do one of three things with their scrap tires: resold them, use them as fuel or use them as fill. Liberty tire will gain this from the acquisition according to the article: “With the acquisition, Liberty Tire will take advantage of significant savings and efficiencies while retaining the company's leadership team. Through the company's leadership, expertise and innovation, Able Tire established a paperless manifest system, a cradle-to-grave tire tracking system that includes the filing of paperless records with the Texas State environmental authorities.” Liberty was the biggest scrap tire collector in the United States, and with acquisition they have just got bigger. Liberty handles about 25 percent of the United States’ scrap tire production each year using 14 facilities. They use the scrap tires and ground it up to use it in the following ways: artificial turf installations, molded rubber goods such as floor mats, paving tiles, new passenger tires, truck tire retread compounds, hoses, brake linings, coatings, sealants, and rubberized asphalt. They also use ground up tires in playgrounds and mulch that is used for landscaping. This use of recycling tires is a great way that the industry goes a little green. Hopefully with the merger the bigger Liberty Tire Company will be able to get even more recycling done even more efficiently. Combining the markets of Texas and Oklahoma is going to make an impact on the industry. And collecting tires to use for scrap is definitely a worthy goal.