BLACK GOLD RUSH
presents
CLEANING UP SASKATCHEWAN ONE TIRE PILE AT A TIME /////////////////////////////////////////
Scrap tires can be dangerous. Most people don’t think of that when they throw a tire into a landfill, a tire pile on a farm, or stuff it behind a shed. However, tire piles collect water, providing a breeding ground for mosquitoes which carry and spread disease such as West Nile Virus and Encephalitis. Tires also create shelter for nuisance animals such as rats and mice to live in, and pose a fire risk, especially when large numbers of tires are located in one place. Tires can catch fire due to vandalism and lightning, and pose a great risk for fire safety personnel and the general public. Tires burn with a thick, toxic smoke and are very difficult to extinguish. In 1990 a large fire in Hagersville, Ontario burned for more than 17 days, forcing nearly 4,000 people to evacuate and releasing the chemicals from more than 14 million tires into the environment.
Phase III of the Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporations’ tire stewardship program is designed to scour the province of Saskatchewan and round up scrap tires, removing these hazards from our environment and ensuring that the tires are recycled into useful materials. Whether it is a giant pile of tires in a coulee or farm yard, or two tires in the garage of a private citizen, the SSTC has a mandate to gather these tires and keep Saskatchewan’s environment and people safe. Once collected, the tires are delivered to two processors in the province and turned into useful, marketable items.
Currently, Black Gold Rush is focusing on the East Central part of Saskatchewan in the Yorkton and Melville areas. The population of this region is nearly double the population in the West Central portion, which means that the efforts of the SSTC should produce an incredible number of tires. This will make a noticeable difference in the natural beauty of the region, while at the same time improving the environmental conditions, removing the risk of fire and disease, and creating tons of new, useable products from the rubber. The Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporation is proud that, with the help of the public and the consumer paid tire recycling fees, they have been able to bring the cleanup to these areas and look forward to moving their efforts to the next portion of the province. To stay up to date on the Black Gold Rush program and to learn which area of the province is going to be next, keep reading Treads and visit our website at: www.scraptire.sk.ca/black-gold-rush
SSTC’s new ad campaign features four “Unsung Heroes”. Each hero speaks to different demographics and relates to specific parts of the Scrap Tire program. In the next four issues of Treads the SSTC will feature one hero and explain how they are doing their part to make sure end-of-life tires are being put through the recycling system instead of into the waste stream. You too can be an “Unsung Hero” and make sure your tires are properly disposed of.
2012 marked the official start of Phase III of the program, known as Black Gold Rush in the West Central area of the province. The SSTC invited 26 RMs to participate in the program, centered in the Kindersley area. The results were impressive. In total, 57,530 tires were collected, diverting 3,024, 681 lbs of scrap tires into the recycle stream.
Meet Len. Len is a farmer in rural Saskatchewan. Behind the barn, Len has a pile of old agriculture tires just lying around. Luckily, Len has heard about the SSTC’s Black Gold Rush program. When the program comes to his area of the province, he will have the opportunity to have his old, rimless tires picked up at no cost to him.
SSTC DASHBOARD SASKATCHEWAN SCRAP TIRE CORPORATION BY THE NUMBERS. JANUARY - AUGUST 2012 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
20
Thanks a
million, Len!
1350
REGISTERED RETAILERS
744,436 TIRES SOLD
11.2 Million RECYCLED POUNDS
Equates to 560000 passenger car tire equivalents