Ontario’s environment minister approves scrap tire plan

Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen announced his approval of the Ontario Used Tire Program Plan today before the annual general meeting of Waste Diversion Ontario, the provincial nonprofit corporation charged with developing and administering waste recycling programs.

As proposed in a December draft and confirmed in a final version issued two months later, the used tire plan will divert Ontario’s scrap tires away from tire-derived fuel and landfilling toward value-added products, such as auto parts, flooring, sports fields and playground surfaces.

The program will establish more than 10,000 collection points for used tires across the province and track their path from collection to final end-use, according to a statement. Brand owners and first importers of tires—including tire manufacturers, tire retailers and vehicle manufacturers—will be responsible for funding the program, based on a formula set forth in the program agreement.

That agreement also sets up the formula for stewardship fees placed on each new tire sold in Ontario. In the draft plan, those fees ranged from $2.03 for solid industrial tires to $365.53 for giant off-the-road tires.