Grant Program Gives Back to Communities • • • • • Are you planning a community improvement project? Sprucing up a playground? Landscaping a park? Renovating a facility?
Metis settlements within the province.
The Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporation (SSTC) has a Community Demonstration Grant Program that might be able to help.
The deadline for 2007 grant applications is May 30.
Up to $5,500 is available in matching funding for capital projects that make use of recycled tire products. Financial support may be obtained to help with the purchase, transportation and installation of such items. The program is open to all municipalities, schools, non-profit community groups, and First Nations and
This playground in the Town of Assiniboia is an example of how communities can incorporate recycled tire products into their local projects. The town used a low-impact rubber crumb rather than sand or gravel to help keep the kids safer from bumps and scrapes
Return undeliverable copies to: Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporation PO Box 1936 Regina SK S4P 3E1
Join the many Saskatchewan communities that have already benefited from this program.
For information and application forms for the Community Demonstration Grant Program, or to see the many types of products currently being made from recycled tires, visit the new and improved SSTC website at www.scraptire.sk.ca, or call the Scrap Tire office at (306) 721-8473.
Taylor Field Awaits continued from front page
enables us to put a product together that does not segregate,” Gilman said. “It does not create a sand bottom layer and a rubber top layer, because the products are about the same size and weight. Once we mix them together, they stay mixed, and they stay in suspension. That keeps the turf fibers upright and stabilized, and the fill itself remains firm and uniform and does not dish out and move around.” The FieldTurf product is just one example of the many innovative items being made today from recycled scrap tires. The list currently includes things like patio paving blocks, truck bed liners, livestock feeders, vehicle ramps, planters, roofing material, and athletic field surfaces. New applications are continually being developed. In the 10 years since the Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporation began its recycling program, over 160 million pounds of waste rubber have been recycled, diverting more than eight million tires from landfills across Saskatchewan. For more information on the Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporation, visit www.scraptire.sk.ca or call (306) 721-8473. For more information on the FieldTurf athletic field surface, visit www.fieldturf.com.
ISSUE 2
SPRING 2007
TREADS •
Re-tire Reclaim Recycle
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Taylor Field Awaits!
NEW TURF TO BE MADE FROM RECYCLED SASKATCHEWAN TIRES For a lot of Saskatchewan Roughrider fans, the chance to tread on the hallowed ground of Taylor Field would be a dream come true. That dream may soon be a reality with the installation of some treads of a different kind at Mosaic Stadium. Installation of new artificial turf at the Mosaic Stadium field is slated to begin on April 30. The product chosen uses recycled Saskatchewan scrap tires as a key component in the high-tech playing surface. This leads to the very real possibility that your old tires could be finding a new home right in the heart of Riderville. “This is another example of the many uses for recycled tires,” said Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporation Chairman Don Schlosser. “Most people probably don’t know that when they get new tires, their old tires are recycled into all sorts of innovative products. In this case, your tires could now be a part of Taylor Field.” The new turf at Mosaic Stadium will use more than 360,000 pounds of recycled rubber, the equivalent of 18,000 Saskatchewan scrap tires. The tires were processed at the PermaLife plant in Assiniboia. FieldTurf is the company that won the contract to install the new field surface.
The Montreal-based company’s unique system is used all over the world and can be found in the stadiums of four other Canadian Football League teams (British Columbia Lions, Calgary Stampeders, Montreal Alouettes, and Toronto Argonauts). Twenty-two of the NFL’s 32 teams currently use FieldTurf at their stadiums and/or practice facilities. More than 40 major universities also utilize the product.
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Gilman says this approach has a number of advantages for use in the FieldTurf product. “For one thing, cryogenic rubber is almost dust free, and the rubber granules that are formed are very uniform. The sides are smooth,” he explained. The size, shape, and weight of the crumb are critical for the performance of the field. It helps keep the infill product (rubber and silica sand) stable. “The combination of a rubber particle that is shaped like sand and is approximately the same size as sand continued on back page
FieldTurf CEO John Gilman says it is a nice touch to be able to use tires from Saskatchewan for the Taylor Field project. “Roughrider fans are well-renowned for their incredible loyalty to the team and the province, so they will be pleased to know that the new field includes recycled material from close home,” said Gilman. The rubber in FieldTurf ’s patented system is a key component. “All rubber is not the same,” said Gilman. “The rubber that FieldTurf uses is very difficult to find, and it is very specialized in the way that it is made. There are not many plants that produce cryogenic rubber.” The PermaLife plant in Assiniboia is one that does use the cryogenic processing system, where the scrap tire is frozen whole and “smashed” into smaller pieces rather than mechanically shredded.
Let’s Go Green! By early May, this bare field at Mosaic Stadium will be transformed into a state-ofthe-art playing surface with the installation of innovative new turf containing recycled Saskatchewan tires. So when the Roughriders march for touchdowns this season, it just might be on top of your old treads!
SSTC Networks at SUMA and SARM • • • • • The Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporation staffed a trade show booth at both major municipal conventions this year, speaking with thousands of local government delegates attending the annual Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) and Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) conferences. “Municipalities are key partners in the SSTC and the province-wide tire recycling program. SUMA and SARM are both represented on our board of directors,” said SSTC Executive
Director Theresa McQuoid. “We were very pleased to participate in these conventions and network with municipal leaders from every corner of the province. I want to thank all the delegates who stopped by to learn more about the recycling program, offer their support, and share their opinions with us.” SSTC was joined by various other provincial recycling programs that occupied booth space at the municipal trade shows. Some of the processors and
manufacturers who make products out of recycled tires, such as Shercom Industries from Saskatoon and PermaLife Products in Assiniboia, were also present at the SUMA event. “It was great for municipal council members and administrators to be able to get first-hand glimpse at some of the terrific products now being made out of recycled tires. Many of these products are relevant to municipalities, and can easily be incorporated in various aspects of a municipality’s operation,” McQuoid said. “So I expect the interest that was generated here will probably result in more recycled tire products making their way into communities across the province, which is exactly what we want to see.”
• • • • • 2006 Annual Report Now Available
SSTC Executive Director Theresa McQuoid speaks with municipal delegates about some of the innovative products made from recycled tires
The SSTC’s 2006 Annual Report is now available. The report details the statistics and achievements of the organization throughout 2006, which proved to be one of its most important and eventful years ever. Copies can be obtained online at www.scraptire.sk.ca, or by calling the SSTC office at (306) 721-8473. Be sure to get your copy!
AGM Caps Banner Year for SSTC • • • • • Speaking at the SSTC Annual General Meeting this spring, Executive Director Theresa McQuoid outlined the huge turnaround the organization experienced in 2006. “At the beginning of the year, the SSTC had no processing sites operating in the province, we were experiencing mixed media coverage, and we were just embarking on a full scale program review after a couple of very challenging financial years,” she said. “To say the least, 2006 was off to a pretty ominous start.” McQuoid stated that the program review, while a difficult exercise, served as the catalyst for the major reversal in the association’s fortunes.
McQuoid says that the decision to request a rate increase was a very difficult one for the SSTC board of directors, but it proved to be the right one for the future of this important environmental initiative. “Today, we have new tire recycling fees in place that are sufficient to support the program, we have both tire processing facilities in the province back in operation, and we have significantly reduced the backlog of unprocessed scrap tires that were starting to build up,” she stated. “Now we’re back on a firm footing. We’re continuing to recycle scrap tires,
continuing to extend the life of landfills throughout the province, and continuing to remove millions of potentially hazardous and environmentally harmful nuisance products from the Saskatchewan waste stream.” McQuoid gave credit and thanks to the stakeholders in the tire recycling industry for supporting the SSTC’s important work. “Despite the challenges of 2006, we also achieved some incredible milestones during the year - most notably, the eight millionth tire recycled under the program, representing over 160 million pounds of scrap rubber that were transformed into useful, marketable items,” she noted. “These accomplishments wouldn’t be possible without the tremendous support of our partners in tire recycling and the general public.”
The review showed just how greatly the operation of the province-wide tire recycling program had changed over the past decade. It also revealed that the tire recycling fees, which fund every aspect of the program’s delivery, were no longer sufficient to cover the costs of the initiative. As a result, the SSTC submitted a formal request to the provincial Environment Minister for the first rate increase in the tire recycling program’s ten-year history. The request was approved, and the new rates were announced on November 1 to take effect early in 2007.
SSTC Launches New Website: WW W. SCRAPTI RE. SK. CA
Earlier this year, the SSTC unveiled its new and improved website to the world.
revised version contains a great deal of new information on the SSTC and its tire recycling program.
Significantly updated from the organization’s previous website, the
Among the newly added features on the website are:
• a page highlighting the many types of products made from recycled tires in Saskatchewan, and where they are available; • information and application
packages for the Community Demonstration Grant Program that offers funding for community projects incorporating recycled tire products into their design;
• forms and supplies that can be downloaded and printed off by tire retailers participating in the program. Please visit the revamped SSTC website today at www.scraptire.sk.ca!