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Most Ontario motorists pay a fee of a few dollars to get rid of their old tires when they buy new ones. But since there's no provincial recycling program, much of that money simply stays in the pockets of retailers.
Within days, Environment Minister John Gerretsen will change that by directing Waste Diversion Ontario to design a province-wide tire-recycling program to ensure more scrap tires are recycled, the Star has learned.
Right now, it's estimated that as few as half the 12 million tires Ontarians throw away each year are recycled. The rest are shipped out of province, mostly to be burned as fuel in cement factories.
Turning more used tires into car parts and sub floors for homes instead of putting them on a truck bound for the U.S. for burning sounds like a no-brainer, given the current popularity of environmental causes. But this program won't be without controversy.
For one, tire retailers and collectors are opposed.
They say they've already created an efficient, free-market tire collection system and all government meddling will do is drive costs up in an effort to subsidize recyclers – and could even put haulers out of business and create tire stockpiles in the province.
In Toronto, for example, many stores charge between $2 to $5 per tire to dispose of old passenger vehicle tires when customers buy new ones. Retailers call this unregulated charge anything from an "environmental disposal fee" to a "government tire tax."
For a large quantity of tires in the Greater Toronto Area, it costs less than $2 to have the tires taken away by a collector, who then offloads them at a facility for recycling or use as fuel, according to one of Ontario's largest tire haulers.
A provincial recycling program could change the math for dealers considerably.
The program that will be developed by Waste Diversion Ontario would see a set per tire fee, likely charged directly to manufacturers.
That money would be collected by an arm's length agency – none would go to general revenues – and used to pay for collection and to promote high-end recycling instead of the cheaper option of burning tires, say those familiar with the plans.
That fee – which is likely to be in line with the $3 to $5 other provinces charge – will almost certainly be passed down to consumers. But it would be expected to replace the fee dealers currently charge, so it wouldn't mean more money out of people's pockets, say those who favour having a program.
"Many consumers believe (what they pay now) is either a tax or a fee that's being paid to have their tire responsibly recycled. In fact, very little of that money goes to the tire being responsibly recycled. The bulk of it is retained by the tire retailer," said Greg Bavington, president of National Rubber Technologies, a Toronto tire recycling firm.
National Rubber Technologies employs 300 people at its two plants in Toronto (and another 200 in Ohio) where they turn scrap tires into things like brake pedals for new cars, mud flaps for trucks and floor mats, Bavington said.
To do more in Ontario, the company needs better access to tires and the financial incentives that would come with a provincial recycling program, he said.
"We've had to shut down shifts in our factories for lack of scrap tire material while tires are being driven down the QEW in front of us on the way to Buffalo to be burned as fuel," he said.
The Ontario Tire Dealers Association agrees there needs to be more transparency surrounding the fees dealers collect and what they're used for, and also thinks change is needed to make sure more scrap tires wind up with recyclers, said Usman Valiante, a consultant for the association.
But a complicated new program will have "unintended effects," Valiante said.
"They're better off harnessing what's going on today, getting some clarity on what the consumer is paying and getting the manufacturers to build in some (recycling) incentives," he said.
But others say that could mean two fees for consumers: The one the dealer already charges to dispose of the tire, and another one the manufacturer adds to the price that is used to pay for a rebate program, for those who buy recycled tire products.
