Tire Stewardship BC (TSBC), an environmental not-for-profit group dedicated to the collection and recycling of scrap tires in British Columbia, will be collecting scrap tires in Sayward this weekend as a part of Sayward Clean-Up Days.
Residents can drop off old or unused tires on Saturday and Sunday between 9 am and 4 pm at Main Road Yard, 797 Island Hwy, free of charge.
“Every tire collected will be transported to the processing plant in Delta, BC where they will be broken down, and every component - rubber, fiber and steel - will be utilized and circle back into the B.C. economy," said Rosemary Sutton, Executive Director, Tire Stewardship BC.
"The steel extracted from tires is used to create new steel, the fibre extracted is used as a fuel supplement for a cement kiln. Some of the recycled rubber even finds a new life as running tracks, arena flooring, or playground surfacing as a part of TSBC's annual Community Grant Program."
Since 1991, over 115 million tires have been recycled in B.C., and every year in B.C. over five million scrap car tires are recycled into new products.
British Columbian residents can also leave their old tires with retailers when purchasing new ones or find a return-to-retailer location near them and drop them off for free, all year round.
Most places will collect up to 4 car tires, clean and off rim during business hours.
Tire Stewardship BC launched the return-to-retailer program in May 2008 to provide consumers with a free alternative to disposing of their tires.
There are over 1,000 R2R locations across the province.