December 1 is fast approaching and that means one thing: you have to change your tires for winter tires, otherwise you risk a $300 fine. It also means that many motorists will have to dispose of their worn tires on the rope. Here’s the right way to do it.
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After a fire at a tire dump – which took four days to bring under control – broke out in Saint-Amable, Montérégie, in 1990, Quebec created the Scrap Tire Management Program, managed today today by Recyc-Quebec.
Since its inception in 1993, the program has recovered nearly 200 million car tires and thus averted another environmental catastrophe. Each year, between 8 and 10 million car and truck tires are reused, recycled or recovered for energy.
Despite the existence of the program, thousands of tires still end up in sorting centers, landfills and even abandoned in nature in the fall and spring. The risks of badly disposing of tires are however known. As they are made from petroleum hydrocarbons, they are easily combustible and, when burned, threaten to contaminate soil, water and air.
How to get rid of it?
Faced with all this, the question arises: how can we properly dispose of our used tires?
As it is not a container, packaging or printed matter, we do not put them in the recycling bin – we see that often! – or in containers dedicated to residential recyclable material. The risks, if this rubber product ends up in a sorting center, are significant: stoppages, equipment breakage or injuries.
There are dedicated places where used tires are accepted, such as car garages, tire centres, car dealerships and most municipal ecocentres. To find out about the recovery channels near you, it is best to contact your municipality.
Several uses
There are local outlets for properly salvaged scrap tires.
Did you know that your old tire can be used, among other things, to remould tires, be integrated into the manufacture of flooring, barn mats, blasting splinter mats, soundproofing panels and even rubber tiles? ? They can also be used for energy recovery in cement plants in Quebec.
Tricentris is a sorting center that serves 234 municipalities in Quebec. Thanks to its informative articles, this coop helps us to orient our consumption choices according to what is recyclable and thus to reduce our impact on the environment.