In an example of the challenges created by long distance recycling, Tire Stewardship Saskatchewan (TSS) has created one issue by resolving another
Tyre recycling in Canada’s Saskatchewan Province has long been challenging, with some nine processors going to the wall since 1998.
The demographics of the province are such that it can be divided into a North and South market. The whole of the country, until recently, been served by Shercom, based in Saskatoon. Though the bulk of its operations were in the North of the Province.
Shercom had been hoping to grow in the South of Saskatchewan when TSS issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) in 2021. However, that very RFP appeared to exclude Shercom from bidding for the contract to handle the market in the South of the Province.
The outcome was that US-based CRM, claimed to be the largest processor of tyres in the USA, gained the contract from TSS to collect tyres from the South of Saskatchewan and process them at a new plant in Moose Jaw.
CRM has a focus on rubber for asphalt, and TSS appear to favour that process, however, according to reports in the local media, CRM is currently pre-shredding and exporting the material to its other plants.
Shercom’s Mike Richards said of TSS; “They were trying to negotiate with us on one hand and courting another company on the other hand,” he said. “I would be concerned as to why, as an organisation that is an arm of the government, they are acting in such a way.”
For clarity, TSS was established as a non-profit corporation by the Retail Council of Canada and the Western Canada Tire Dealers. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe in a speech on employment, emphasised the contract was awarded not by government but by a third-party entity, Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan.
Currently, the North of Saskatchewan has no organised tyre collection or processing service as without a contract, Shercom has had to shut down its Saskatoon plant.
Reports in Saskatchewan media suggest that the tyre sector is unhappy with the current provision and wants the situation revisited, but it appears that TSS has dug its heels in and is refusing to move.
