More than one use for old tires

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/01/2016 (3531 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At the end of the road, every tire needs to be retired.

The material that tires are made from is definitely not biodegradable. We can’t junk them in a normal landfill, and they last hundreds of years. That creates an incredible environmental burden for people who weren’t even born when the tires were made.

That’s why I’m glad we have Tire Stewardship Manitoba (TSM) and Reliable Tire Recycling right here in Tyndall Park.

Manitoba produces more than one million used tires every year, amounting to 13 million kilograms of rubber. Tire Stewardship Manitoba is a non-profit organization that manages Manitoba’s scrap tire recycling program to make sure those tires don’t go to waste. There are more than 1,400 collection points across the province that will take your used tires, at no cost, so there’s no excuse for not helping the environment.

Tire Stewardship Manitoba helps out in the community, too. They offer one-time matching grants of up to $20,000 for schools that use recycled tire products for running tracks, playground tires, and synthetic sports fields. TSM provides Brandon University, the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg with a $3,000 scholarship for an Environmental Science student. Check out their website tirestewardshipmb.ca/ to find out more.

Reliable Tire Recycling, at 1450 Dublin, handles 95 per cent of the collection, processing and manufacturing of used tires in Manitoba. They’ve been around since 1992 and their first task was to clean up all the stockpiled tires on the Manitoba landscape. You can either drop off your unwanted tires directly, or ask your tire retailer to take them. Reliable Tire Recycling does pick-ups across the city every week.

It’s amazing how useful used tires are. Reliable Tire Recycling will shred them into smaller pieces that replace rock and stone in new roads. I couldn’t tell you how, but they increase drainage and reduce both erosion and frost damage. They also reduce fuel consumption because tire shreds are so much lighter than the rocky materials they replace.

When tires are chopped more finely they get turned into crumbs that have countless uses. Reliable Tire Recycling can mould them into blasting mats, water troughs, fittings for snow plough blades, and much, much more.

These innovative programs and businesses are part of what makes Manitoba great. We’re creating more green jobs in this province to sustain our environment and keep our economy thriving at the same time.

If you would like more information on our community, feel free to contact me at 204-421-9493 or check out my website at TedMarcelino.ca