Alberta has reached a phenomenal milestone in recycling over 100 million tires since the recycling program began in 1992.

These tires have been collected in 350 collection sites across the province and recycled to produce a material that has been used in pour in place rubber surfaces, rooftops, rubber molded products, rig mats, rubber bricks and many other products.

Alberta recycles approximately 6 million tires every year.

So where would we be without Alberta's Tire Recycling program? It is hard to imagine what 100 million tires would look like, however some areas like Kuwait (who is known to have the world's larges tire graveyard) still struggle with this challenge.

In addition to Alberta's great tire recycling program, we have one of the cleanest processes for recycling. Metal and foreign objects have to be extracted from tires to produce a clean crumb and having worked with rubber crumb produced in different provinces across Canada, Alberta's is by far the cleanest rubber.

What is the incentive to use this product? It's recycled, affordable and safer than alternative surfaces, however in addition to these benefits, the Alberta Recycling Municipal Demonstration Grant awards $30K to many projects every year for using this material in their poured in place rubber safety surfacing project. Since 2002, $12M has been granted to projects across Alberta.

Projects that received the 2016 Alberta Recycling Municipal Demonstration Grant also received a 100% recycled rubber VistaLine rock or log to commemorate Alberta's achievement of 100 million recycled tires. 

If you are a community or non-profit organization, you most likely qualify to receive this grant for your upcoming surfacing project. Whether it is a playground, fitness, pathway, running track, or swimming pool area, poured in place rubber is a great solution. We will continue to create safer, healthier and more effective public spaces through recycling.