August 18, 2010

From Waste Product to Valuable Commodity

Canada’s provinces are doing a remarkable job recycling used tires into valuable products

 

Mike Hennessy, executive director, tire Stewardship BC, stands beside a set of otr tires - the ones that are diffi cult to recycle

If two heads are better than one, then Canada’s national tire recycling initiative is in great hands with all ten provinces and the Yukon putting their heads together and working toward a common goal and vision.

“Tire recycling in Canada is alive and well, thriving and vibrant,” says Mike Hennessy, Executive director, Tire Stewardship BC. “We’ve got all the agencies across Canada working together in the body called CATRA (Canadian Association of Tire Recycling Agencies).”

CATRA was established to enhance the effectiveness of scrap tire diversion and recycling across Canada through sharing of information, expertise and resources.

The provinces openly exchange information, share tips, give advice and answer questions via emails and phone calls. In addition, CATRA members put their heads together once a month during a Canada-wide conference call, and meet annually to address common goals and issues.

“It’s all about information sharing,” says Brad Schultz, Director of Operations, Alberta Recycling Management Authority. “We have monthly calls, but beyond that, throughout the month, we might send random emails asking for advice and recommendations on a variety of topics and issues. So we benefi t from very open communication,
and the level and openness of that communication has increased over the years.”

Helping New Ones

One of the newest members of CATRA is Ontario. The Ontario Tire Stewardship program was launched on Sept. 1, 2009, but thanks to CATRA, Ontario has been able to get up to speed much more quickly than they cold have dreamed of, since the province did not have to reinvent the proverbial wheel.

“We got a lot of support from the other provinces,” admits Andrew Horsman, Executive director, Ontario Tire Stewardship. “One of the ways we’ve been able to benefi t, even when developing our program, was learning from the other CATRA members in terms of what worked for them and what didn’t. This gave us a better understanding
of the economics and markets of recycled tire materials, simply because the other provinces have been doing it for such a long time.”

Horsman says Ontario’s program took a lot of cues from the BC program, “in terms of leveraging some of the basic recording systems, tracking tires, and looking across the country at what incentives were appropriate for the various markets, and then tweaking things for Ontario. We didn’t have to reinvent the wheel.”

Another relative newcomer is Saskatchewan. “The relationships we enjoy through CATRA are benefi cial, because you can communicate freely with your counterparts to get information that helps you with your processes,” says Theresa McQuoid, Executive director,  Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporation.

Saskatchewan’s tire recycling program was launched in 1996 as a voluntary initiative and, in 1998, it became mandatory. “We all experience similar issues in the tire recycling world, so having support through CATRA is great,” McQuoid adds.

Similar, But Different

Although CATRA facilitates an exchange of ideas between provinces, we will likely never see a single Canadian harmonized tire recycling program, since each province has its own set of rules, challenges, government regulations and mandates. “There are eleven different programs, each going their own way, but going our own
way still gets the job done,” Hennessy says. “Tires still get picked up and recycled.”

Case in point: Ontario. “We have a mandate that’s a bit different,” says Horsman. “Ontario takes a very different approach to stewardship in general. We have a mandate from the Ministry that is extremely market focused, economic development focused, and we’ve been asked to put together a program that drives the creation of a green economy in Ontario. All of the other provinces are working on this to some extent, because that’s a long-term solution, but I believe that by collaborating with them, we have been able to take our approach to the next level.”

Even though a cookie-cutter approach is not possible, through CATRA, all the provinces do collaborate, working together to address common issues. “In the last year or two, we have been working together on specific initiatives, like OTR (off the road) tires,” adds Hennessy. “We pool our resources to get things done, and if there’s a cost, we share it.”

Currently, all the provinces are sharing the cost of doing a study that will help them address the OTR problem. “We’re talking about huge tires with an inside diameter diameter of 63 inches and larger, ” says current CATRA Chairman, Don Blythe. “At our meeting, last September, in Montreal, we formed an OTR committee and we’re working together to fi nd a solution all the provinces will take advantage of.”

The OTR issue is another example of how a CATRA member can learn from another. “Some provinces already have strong OTR management in place while others haven’t included OTR in their programs,” says Brett Eckstein, Executive director of Tire Stewardship Manitoba. “So, some of the provinces may be able to provide expertise or some processing capacity.”

In Saskatchewan, the OTR problem is not as great as it is in other provinces, but they still have to deal with their share of OTR tires. “The biggest problem is that we don’t have a processor in our province that can deal with all of our OTR classifi ed tires,” explains McQuoid. “That means we have to look for alternate recycling options. Other provinces have processors that can deal with their OTR tires, but we have to send ours out of the country.”

 

Most old tires are turned into crumb.

Moving Forward

With all the provinces moving toward a common goal, CATRA is now looking at new ways to improve tire recycling in Canada. “Moving forward, we’re looking at ways we can all collaborate,” Hennessy says. “We’re looking at how we can work together to pursue common market development goals, as well as research and development. The rising tide, after all, raises all boats, and that’s one of the most signifi cant benefi ts of CATRA.”

By pooling resources, the provinces, under CATRA, can accomplish much more than any single jurisdiction could do by working on its own. “We can spend our money promoting a product here in BC, but if it can be used anywhere else in Canada, why not combine our resources and increase our marketing budget?” asked Hennessy. “That way, we can leverage our marketing, promotion or product development funds for more impact.”

Current Practices

Currently, used tires in Canada are being recycled into three primary products: TDP (tire derived product), which for the most part means crumb; TDA (tire derived aggregate), which is mostly shred that’s used in landfi lls or in road construction; or TDF (tire derived fuel) - usually shred or whole tires that go into kilns and other boilertype applications to generate energy.

The end use varies from province to province. In Ontario, there’s a market for shred. Some of it is being used as aggregate to replace gravel, but there’s a signifi cant percentage that is being shredded in Ontario and sent out of the province for further processing.

“Probably 70% of Ontario’s on road tires is going to crumb,” Horsman says. “It’s being used for landscaping, playgrounds, sports fi elds and moulded products. We have 7 manufacturers here in Ontario, that are turning the crumb into a variety of products – patio stones, door mats, automotive and truck components, carpet and
hardwood underlayment, parking curbs, and even roof shingles.So, there are really some exciting things going on, and we are trying to grow these markets.”

In Alberta, about 60% of used tires are turned into TDA. “It’s used as a drainage medium in landfi ll instead of gravel,” says Schultz.

“Crumb is sold into the marketplace for infi ll on sports fi elds with artifi cial turf, and it’s also used to make products. Right here in the province, we have manufacturers that make playground surfaces, fl oor mats and other products.”

Mosaic Stadium in Saskatchewan, where they use recycled tires as infi ll for the artifi cial turf.

Manitoba is turning used tires into moulded products, crumb rubber, fabricated products and aggregate. “We’re turning them into landscaping materials, be it paving stones or mulch,” Eckstein adds.“As for fabricated products, we make blasting mats that are generally used by companies which build roads or blasting rock. In fact, Manitoba is one of three provinces that has a processor that makes blasting mats.”

Saskatchewan has two processors in the province. They produce crumb rubber and tire shred. “We also have a company that makes products for resale, including speed bumps and paving stones,” Mc-Quoid adds, “and we have a lot of playground applications, as well as paving applications.”

Provincial laws and market demand determine whether or not recycled tires can be turned into certain products or used in a given manner. For instance, “Alberta and Ontario are not allowed to makeTDF (tire derived fuel) in their provinces. TDA is allowed in BC, but there is no market for it. It’s used extensively in Alberta, Manitoba and the Maritimes. As for TDP - BC is unique and we have a high percentage of crumb,” Hennessy explains.

 

Some tires are turned into playground surfaces.

High Value Products

In the future, CATRA would like to see Canada’s used tires developed into what Hennessy calls high value products. “Recycled rubber from tires can sometimes replace virgin rubber and can be used to make new rubber products,” he explains. “It can also be blended with plastic to make composite products. These are what we consider high value products. It’s being done today in small ways, but we want to fi nd other uses - uses that will demand a higher price for our recycled rubber.”

Individual provinces also see opportunities in their local markets. “We would like to see more rubber asphalt used in road paving,” says Eckstein from Manitoba. “We’ve had tests done in Winnipeg and we would like to see the use of rubber increased. We have a lot of frost heaving in some of our municipal roads, where the use of aggregate in the road bed does a good job to mitigate the problem.”

Eckstein believes that through CATRA, his province will be able to fl atten the learning curve and to fi gure out a way to pave Manitoba’s roads with used tires sooner rather than later. “Saskatchewan has done a good job with rubber asphalt, and I think there are lessons to be learned from this,” he admits. “Other jurisdictions have sold more moulded products, and we can consult them to see what they did to accomplish that.”

Leading the World

United through CATRA, Canada is a leader in tire recycling. “We’re getting the job done in Canada,” Hennessy says. “Stockpiles of tires have been cleaned up and up to 93% of tires are recycled in Canada.”

 

a snowplow blade made of used tires.

Brett Eckstein agrees. “I would be hard pressed to come up with another jurisdiction that does as well as Canada on a consistent basis. There may be some examples you could see in Europe, where they’re doing something unique, but in the end, it’s quite remarkable that Canada has been able to achieve this level of success in recycling scrap tires - especially when you consider the vast geography and regional differences of our country.”

The level of cooperation and collaboration in Canada is truly unique. “In Canada, the tire industry - whether it’s the tire manufacturers or the companies that recycle tires - we are all on the same page and we all believe that when it comes to recycling efforts this year, we should do better than we did last year, and next year, we should be
doing better than we did this year,” adds Horsman.

Perhaps most impressive is the fact that Canada’s tire recycling efforts have changed the way the market looks at used tires. “Recycled tires are no longer considered to be problematic waste products,” says Brad Schultz. “The material has become a valuable commodity.”