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Written by Ric Swihart
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Friday, July 03 2009, 9:44 PM |
Alberta’s tire recycling program has hit the 50-million mark and counting.
Brad Schultz of Edmonton, tire recycling program director for the Alberta Recycling Management Authority, said Friday Canada’s first tire recycling operation started in 1992 is up to 5.5 million tires collected from 2,200 tire retailers a year, a rate projected again for 2009.
“In the past five years, we have gone from 2.5 million tires a year collected and recycled to 5.5 million,” he said.
Schultz said Alberta is expected to continue to boost tire recycling operations. Ontario is expected to introduce a similar program this year.
Introduced by former Alberta Environment Minister Ralph Klein, the program is completely user-pay. When new tires are purchased in Alberta, the consumer pays an advance tire disposal surcharge of $4 a tire.
Alberta boasts 2,200 tire retailers and each collects the $4 fee, remitting the funds to the authority on a regular basis. Random spot checks are done on retailers.
There are three co-operating firms — Culling Ed of Ponoka, Alberta Environmental Rubber Project of Edmonton and Rubber Tech of Legal — which can be contacted by tire retailers to pick up their stock of used tires.
The tires are accumulated at the manufacturing plants until they can be recycled.
Schultz said a major operation is grinding the rubber tires into four-inch chunks which are used mainly as an aggregate like gravel.
Others are turned into a crumb consistency to be added to asphalt. The resulting product improves a highway surface, reduces tire sounds and road surface cracks.
Another growing use is turning the old tires into playground products like a pour-in-place surface, covering a running track, playground facilities and improving fitness centres.
It can also be used in walkways and dressing rooms in hockey arenas, he said. “There are a 101 applications.”
The authority uses the tire disposal money to pay the processors to collect the tires, although some contract that service to others.
Schultz said the authority has gained a good ally in the tire collection business.
It annually sets aside about $120,000 to pay 4-H clubs to collect, gather and clean up old tires on acreages and farms across the province.
“Each year we maximize the 4-H fund,” he said.
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