Ontario Rolls Out New Tire Recycling Program

Ontario Tire Stewardship (OTS), an organization based in Toronto and funded by the tire industry, will be implementing and operating The Used Tires Program, which will responsibly recycle the province’s used tires into useful products.

According to the organization, through a network of registered collectors, which includes retailers, municipalities and other drop-off points, the program will allow Ontarians to drop off up to four used tires per person, at no charge, to be collected and recycled. OTS says tracking systems will be used to help eliminate illegal dumping of scrap tires and to ensure they are managed by service providers that have adopted best environmental practices.

“Ontario’s Used Tires Program marks the most ambitious used tire program in the country,” says Andrew Horsman, executive director of OTS. “The program will remove tire stockpiles, recycle tires into household, commercial and automotive products and create green jobs and economic benefits right here in our province.”

The new program includes a three-year plan to eliminate the approximately 2.8 million stockpiled tires in dumpsites across Ontario, as well as to ensure that the approximately 11 million scrap tires generated annually are diverted from burning and landfilling to other uses. Potential uses of recycled tires include rubber mats, playground products, hockey rinks and automotive parts. The organization adds that prior to beginning this program, approximately 50 percent of Ontario's used tires were trucked into the U.S. to be burned.