TREADS ISSUE 6 | FALL 2012 | SASKATCHEWAN SCRAP TIRE CORPORATION
BLACK GOLD RUSH
presents
CLEANING UP SASKATCHEWAN ONE TIRE PILE AT A TIME /////////////////////////////////////////
Scrap tires can be dangerous. Most people don’t think of that when they throw a tire into a landfill, a tire pile on a farm, or stuff it behind a shed. However, tire piles collect water, providing a breeding ground for mosquitoes which carry and spread disease such as West Nile Virus and Encephalitis. Tires also create shelter for nuisance animals such as rats and mice to live in, and pose a fire risk, especially when large numbers of tires are located in one place. Tires can catch fire due to vandalism and lightning, and pose a great risk for fire safety personnel and the general public. Tires burn with a thick, toxic smoke and are very difficult to extinguish. In 1990 a large fire in Hagersville, Ontario burned for more than 17 days, forcing nearly 4,000 people to evacuate and releasing the chemicals from more than 14 million tires into the environment.
Phase III of the Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporations’ tire stewardship program is designed to scour the province of Saskatchewan and round up scrap tires, removing these hazards from our environment and ensuring that the tires are recycled into useful materials. Whether it is a giant pile of tires in a coulee or farm yard, or two tires in the garage of a private citizen, the SSTC has a mandate to gather these tires and keep Saskatchewan’s environment and people safe. Once collected, the tires are delivered to two processors in the province and turned into useful, marketable items.
Currently, Black Gold Rush is focusing on the East Central part of Saskatchewan in the Yorkton and Melville areas. The population of this region is nearly double the population in the West Central portion, which means that the efforts of the SSTC should produce an incredible number of tires. This will make a noticeable difference in the natural beauty of the region, while at the same time improving the environmental conditions, removing the risk of fire and disease, and creating tons of new, useable products from the rubber. The Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporation is proud that, with the help of the public and the consumer paid tire recycling fees, they have been able to bring the cleanup to these areas and look forward to moving their efforts to the next portion of the province. To stay up to date on the Black Gold Rush program and to learn which area of the province is going to be next, keep reading Treads and visit our website at: www.scraptire.sk.ca/black-gold-rush
SSTC’s new ad campaign features four “Unsung Heroes”. Each hero speaks to different demographics and relates to specific parts of the Scrap Tire program. In the next four issues of Treads the SSTC will feature one hero and explain how they are doing their part to make sure end-of-life tires are being put through the recycling system instead of into the waste stream. You too can be an “Unsung Hero” and make sure your tires are properly disposed of.
2012 marked the official start of Phase III of the program, known as Black Gold Rush in the West Central area of the province. The SSTC invited 26 RMs to participate in the program, centered in the Kindersley area. The results were impressive. In total, 57,530 tires were collected, diverting 3,024, 681 lbs of scrap tires into the recycle stream.
Meet Len. Len is a farmer in rural Saskatchewan. Behind the barn, Len has a pile of old agriculture tires just lying around. Luckily, Len has heard about the SSTC’s Black Gold Rush program. When the program comes to his area of the province, he will have the opportunity to have his old, rimless tires picked up at no cost to him.
SSTC DASHBOARD SASKATCHEWAN SCRAP TIRE CORPORATION BY THE NUMBERS. JANUARY - AUGUST 2012 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
20
Thanks a
million, Len!
1350
REGISTERED RETAILERS
744,436 TIRES SOLD
11.2 Million RECYCLED POUNDS
Equates to 560000 passenger car tire equivalents
Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporation is having tremendous success with our Black Gold Rush program – collecting tires that have been discarded or abandoned in rural Saskatchewan. This program has been effective in getting those tires into the recycle stream so they can be recycled into useful products while protecting the environment. Saskatchewan consumers purchase over one million tires per year, and many people simply don’t know what to do with old tires that have made it home with them. As a result, SSTC has launched a pilot program in the city of Regina called Return 2 Retailer (R2R).
CLEAN UP YOUR YARD AND THE CITY
RETURN 2 RETAILER PILOT PROGRAM KICKS OFF IN REGINA
The pilot program partners with three tire retailers – Canadian Tire, Kal Tire, and Quality Tire – and allows individuals to rid themselves of used, rimless tires safely and at no cost simply by returning them to one of the program partners. The partners will store the tires until they are picked up on normal tire collection routes, at which point the tires will be recycled here in the province. The Return 2 Retailer pilot program kicked off in April and tires started to roll in when radio advertising began. In addition to advertisements on the radio, the program was advertised with flyers, billboards, community newsletters & websites and on social media channels. Tire collection numbers have been promising, with thousands of tires delivered to the five pilot locations.
The average life of a passenger car or truck tire is between four and five years. Based on the numbers of tires sold within the province and the number of tires recycled, the SSTC estimates that there may be as many as 47,000 tires in the Regina area alone that need to be collected and entered into the recycling stream. Consumers are always encouraged to leave their old tires at the shop when they are having new ones installed, ensuring that the tires are disposed of properly at the onset – that’s why the tire recycling fee is paid. SSTC wants to make R2R an ongoing program. When the pilot closes in October 2012, the results will be crucial to helping us determine the feasibility of the program and will help define what R2R will look like in the future.
“The SSTC has already completed the clean-up of more than 300 municipal landfills and are two years into collecting tires from private stockpiles in rural Saskatchewan. The Return 2 Retailer program is one more environmentally responsible option for scrap tires,” says SSTC’s Director of Special Projects, Jackie Kuntz.
USED TIRES NEED TO FIND THEIR WAY HOME! SSTC’S Kelcey Harasen at the R2R Roundup event in July 2012
Participants in the project also agree. “Most landfills no longer accept tires. When the landfills don’t take the tires, where does the public go with that product?” asks Laurie Wishira, Zone Manager for Kal Tire. “We took in a lot of tires, but there are still a lot more out there. This is a program that I’d like to see continued.”
The SSTC is looking to promote their program message at your business. If you have video display screen space and would like to lend it to SSTC, we want to hear from you! Contact Theresa McQuoid at 721-8473 for details.
Public Polling
SASKATCHEWAN SCRAP TIRE CORPORATION GIVES BACK Community Demonstration Grants Improve Our Province and Make Use of Recycled Scrap Tires ////////////////////////////////////////////
This research highlights the findings from a quantitative study with Saskatchewan residents about the Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporation (SSTC). The main objectives of the study were to determine public support of the SSTC and the fees the program regulates.
Program Support
Agree it is important to have a provincial tire recycling program.
81
%
Methodology Data was collected between September 2-12, 2011 from 815 Saskatchewan residents ranging in demographic.
91
%
Survey Objectives
Tire Recycling Fee
Fee Equality
Supportive of paying a Tire Recycling Fee on the purchase of new tires to help cover the cost of recycling over one million scrap tires per year.
80
%
Believe the Tire Recycling Fee should reflect the type of tires being recycled. {ie. lower fee on passenger car tires, higher fee on heavy equipment tires}
Each year, the Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporation awards Community Demonstration Grants of up to $5,000 toward the purchase and installation of Saskatchewan manufactured recycled rubber products. The projects eligible for the grants use either granular products (such as mulch for landscaping purposes or crumb for playgrounds) or manufactured products (such as patio tiles, sidewalks, athletic surfaces, and roof shingles).
In 2012, the SSTC gave a total of nearly $30,000 worth of grants to projects across the province. Foam Lake Daycare received a grant for a yard renovation including the installation of recycled rubber products that will result in a safer play area for the children who attend the daycare. The Meacham Recreation Board was given funds for an upgrade to their playground, and the William Derby School in Strasbourg was rewarded with upgrades to their sports field long-jump track. The Leoville Arena Recreation Board is installing new rubber matting in the town arena with help from the SSTC. The town of Wilkie was given funding for new pool decking, and the town of Cabri will be installing playground paving made from recycled tires. The money for the grants is raised through the SSTC’s Tire Recycling Fee (TRF), which varies in amount depending on the size and type of the tire, and is applied to the sale of all new tires in Saskatchewan. In addition to the community grants, this money also funds recycling programs, community clean-ups and advertising to raise awareness of the importance of caring for your tires properly, as well as proper disposal and recycling of tires which have been replaced. Saskatchewan municipalities, registered non-profit organizations/community groups, schools, and First Nations and Metis settlements are eligible to apply for funding. The grants are awarded on May 31st of each year. An application package can be downloaded from the SSTC website at:
http://www.scraptire.sk.ca/Programs/community-grant-program.html
420 - 2220 12TH AVENUE REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN S4P 0M8 PHONE: (306) 721-8473 (721-TIRE) FAX: (306) 721-1585 E-MAIL: INFO@SCRAPTIRE.SK.CA @SKScrapTire
facebook.com/SKScrapTire