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Hundreds of thousands of used tires are piling up across Ontario as some companies responsible for tire recycling have stopped processing tires amid reduced provincial recycling regulations for tire producers, industry experts say.
The result is growing flammable stockpiles of tires while consumers continue to pay recycling fees and recycling businesses face layoffs and shutdowns, experts tell CBC Toronto.
Adam Moffatt, executive director of the Ontario Tire Dealers Association, says some sites have over 500,000 tires stockpiled.
“We could have millions and millions of tires stockpiled [by next summer],” Moffatt said.
Since 2019, tire producers in Ontario have been responsible for recycling individually, but can outsource their responsibility for recycling quotas to so-called producer responsibility organizations, or PROs, who contract haulers and recyclers to collect and process tires.
But in January 2025, the provincial government eliminated collection targets for used tires. Tire producers are now only required to recycle 65 per cent of used tires collected by weight, rather than 85 per cent.
Despite the change, consumers still pay about five dollars in eco fees per new tire — a rate set by tire producers — to cover the costs of recycling.
With the new lower regulations, there is now a mounting surplus of tires that some PROs say they have no obligation or economic incentive to process.
The Resource Productivity & Recovery Authority (RPRA), the provincial regulator, requires tire producers to continue recycling tires from their collection sites whether targets are met or not, Jess Turchet, RPRA manager of communications, said in an email.
Once tire producers meet their recycling targets, the current regulations allow them to dispose of used tires in landfills or to incinerate them, including by shipping to the U.S., Turchet said.
Small recycling businesses ‘starving to death’
Donato Ardellini, CEO of a PRO called E360S, said his company was not being paid for the surplus tires it was processing, so it stopped collecting — and shut down a Barrie recycling facility with 110 employees.
“If it doesn’t get fixed fast, tires are going to be accumulating in the streets,” Ardellini said. “These small independent tire haulers, they’re all starving to death because they’re not getting paid enough to collect tires.”
There are now only seven processing facilities in the province, down from 17, said Scott Cavanaugh of All Star Transportation and Tire Recycling, an independent hauler.
“It’s been very, very stressful, having to let people go, having to take trucks off the road, having to worry about whether I can pay my workers so that they can have Christmas,” said Cavanaugh.
Adam Moffatt, the executive director of the Ontario Tire Dealers Association, says some stores are going weeks on end without collection — or not being serviced at all. (Submitted by Adam Moffatt)
Calls for stricter enforcement by province
Cavanaugh is petitioning the provincial government to raise the required recycling rates and legislate stricter enforcement for tire producers, among other things.
MPP Peter Tabuns, NDP critic on the environment, conservation and parks, said in a statement Wednesday the Conservatives “continue to flout their environmental responsibilities.”
“The notion of tires being sent to the United States for incineration or littering our communities is unacceptable.”
As tires keep piling up, municipalities may have to limit the number of tires that residents can drop off, said Dave Yousif, director of waste management services for Niagara Region.
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Across the recycling industry, tire dealers are increasingly concerned about the fire code violations posed by the stockpiles, said Moffatt.
“There’s a huge safety concern,” he said.
“Everyone’s biggest fear is another Hagersville,” said Cavanaugh, referring to the massive 1990 tire fire outside Hamilton that burned through 14 million scrap tires and prompted regulatory changes.
The Ministry of Environment is working with the RPRA to address the disruptions to tire collection, spokesperson Gary Wheeler said in an email.
The ministry did not respond to questions about tires being incinerated, concerns about stockpiles being fire hazards or possible recycling business shutdowns.
