Ontario wants your tires

TORONTO — There’s a whole world out there waiting to be made up of used tires and Ontario truckers can now do their part.

Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen announced the approval of the Ontario Used Tire Program Plan, which is expected to be launched Sept. 1.

The used tire plan will implement a managed scrap tire solution for both on-road and off-road tires supplied into the Ontario market. The idea is to divert the used tires away from burning sites and landfills, and have them reused and recycled into tire derived products (TDPs) such as under-the-hood automotive products, flooring, sports fields, play ground surfaces and construction-related equipment and materials.

The program will be funded by brand owners and first importers of tires supplied in Ontario, including tire manufacturers, retailers and vehicle manufacturers, who remit a Tire Stewardship Fee to Ontario Tire Stewardship (OTS) for every tire.

The fees will be used by OTS to operate the Used Tire Program, including the collection, transporting and processing costs of used tires, including those in stockpiles.

The program will manage all 12 million tires sold in Ontario annually, and will track the tires from collection at over 10,000 points across the province to their sale as tire-derived products, and includes an aggressive three year plan to eliminate the approximately 2.8 million stockpiled tires in 90 sites across Ontario.

“We are pleased with the minister’s decision to approve the Used Tires Program Plan,” said Glenn Maidment, president of the OTS board. “We are very pleased to see the tire industry showing leadership on this important issue by accepting responsibility for end-of-life management of used tires. In approving the plan, the minister facilitates significant investment in Ontario businesses handling used tires in environmentally beneficial ways, creating jobs and a green economy for future generations of Ontarians.”

In the first year, the program will inject more than $22 million into the Ontario-based scrap tire processing industry, supporting Ontario-based processors as they invest in their businesses to increase capacity, adopt new scrap tire processing technologies, and create new jobs in the province.

B.C.Manitoba and New Brunswick also run tire stewardship programs.
 


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