Tires from around the province will be parked at two District of Sechelt playgrounds this year, thanks to a $12,255 grant from Tire Stewardship BC (TSBC).
TSBC is a non-profit society that oversees the scrap tire recycling program in B.C.
This month the organization announced that over half a million pounds of tires were kept out of B.C. landfills thanks to TSBC's second round of funding in 2011. Through that program, 29 B.C. communities, including Sechelt, received a total of $556,318 to purchase recycled rubber products.
"This amounts to nearly 38,000 tires that were kept out of landfills and instead were recycled for use in playgrounds, water parks and indoor and outdoor athletic facilities," said TSBC executive director Mike Hennessy.
The District of Sechelt was granted $12,255 in matching funds from the program to expand the rubberized ground cover at Rotary Friendship Park (at the end of Wharf Avenue) and replace the ground cover at Piccadilly Park with a poured rubber surface.
Funding for the community grant program comes directly from the advance disposal fee or "eco-fee" that each retailer remits to TSBC when they sell a new tire.
The fees help support the operation of B.C.'s scrap tire recycling program, which includes disposing of tires in environmentally responsible ways.
Since the scrap tire recycling program was launched in 1991, more than 50 million vehicle tires have been recycled in the province.
