Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ

• Are fees charged on new tire sales to support TSP operations in NB?
• What about tires which have rim sizes larger than 62.2.cm (24.5inches)? Are they covered by the TSP yet?
• How does the TSP recycling system work?
• How can I get rid of old tires I still have, but can’t use anymore?
• How do scrap tires impact the environment?
• What does ‘Tire Stewardship’ mean?
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  Are fees charged on new tire sales to support TSP operations in NB?
  
  

  Yes. The purchase price of each new tire sold in NB includes an environmental fee. These fees are collected at more than 950 retail tire outlets across the province. The resulting revenue is used to partially subsidize the cost of collecting ‘scrap’ tires anywhere in NB … and making sure they are successfully recycled.

  New Brunswick’s TSP recycling system is self-supporting and receives no financial assistance from government.

  To ensure continued sustainability for the program in future years, the respective environmental fees applicable to new tires sales required an adjustment effective March 1, 2008. This marked the first time the fees had changed since New Brunswick’s Tire Stewardship Program (TSP) was introduced 11 years ago.

  Such fees must be collected on each new tire sold, including those on new or leased vehicles and equipment. All fees are based on rim size and tire designation, as indicated below.

  
  
  
  What about tires which have rim sizes larger than 62.2.cm (24.5 inches). Are they covered by the TSP yet?
  
  No. At present, the oversized tires used on ‘off-road’ vehicles in industrial sectors such as forestry, mining and agriculture are not subject to environmental fees under the TSP system in New Brunswick. New recycling technologies which can successfully handle such huge specially-made tires have been emerging more recently, however. It’s expected that a full scale OTR (Off-the-Road) scrap tire recycling system will be introduced as part of the TSP in the coming year.
  
  How does the TSP recycling system work?
  
  New Brunswick’s scrap tire collection system operates year round, every business day of the year … picking such units up from retail outlets, after they are removed and replaced during new tire installations.
  
  Pick up schedules will vary from one retailer to another. The typical service station in a small community may sell just a few tires a month and be able to store 15 to 20 scrap units on site at any one time. On the other hand, a large urban retailer can often manage hundreds of scrap tires before they run out of space. But they may also be doing a far higher volume of installations in any given month.
  
  Every scrap tire collected through the TSP system across NB is delivered as soon as possible to the TRACC recycling plant in Minto. The company generates more than 6 million kilograms of new rubber-based products annually from the Province’s scrap tire resource.
  
  How can I get rid of old tires I still have, but can’t use anymore?
  
  To encourage productive recycling … the TSP provides a scrap tire ’Return to Retailers’ service for individual New Brunswickers.
  
  Because environmental fees were charged during the original sale in each case, such scrap tires can be dropped off, free of charge, during regular business hours, at any retail tire outlet in the Province … even if they were not originally purchased at that location. The tires themselves are simply added to the retailer’s regular on-site storage … and picked up for recycling later through the TSP system.
  
  Not all retailers have the same amount of on-site storage space, so please don’t bring them more than 5 tires at any given time. Contacting them in advance to arrange a convenient time for the drop off will also help the on-site staff.
  
  This service is specifically designed for individual consumers with just a few old tires to drop off. Commercial operators, or anyone else with large numbers of scrap tires ready for recycling, should contact the TSP office directly at 1 888 322 8473.
  
  How do scrap tires impact the environment?
  
  Scrap tires and the environment simply don’t mix.
  
  When planning for the TSP began in the mid 1990’s, the environmental ‘headaches’ involved with scrap tires were enormous. Such items are exceptionally durable, and have no capacity to ‘bio-degrade’ in the natural environment.
  
  Vast numbers of them were ending up in landfills, at steadily rising public expense, year after year. Thoughtless dumping was also widespread along New Brunswick’s roadsides, wilderness areas, streams and coastal beaches. The fact that every unit of scrap tire ‘waste’ contained valuable resources, which could be recycled instead, made the problem even more frustrating.
  
  In New Brunswick today, the picture is dramatically different, as a truckload of scrap tires represents economic progress … rather than environmental cost. Since 1996, the Province’s tire waste stream has essentially 'dried up' at the source, removing unsightly blights from our environment, and saving taxpayers millions of dollars in landfill operating expense.
  
  What does ‘Tire Stewardship’ mean?
  
  The concept of environmental stewardship is a key principle in the global effort to protect the environment and promote long term ‘sustainable’ development.
  
  The central idea of ‘stewardship’ is that everyone involved in the production and use of a specific product should play a continuing role in managing any waste associated with that use. New Brunswick's Tire Stewardship Program is founded squarely on this concept.
  
  It brings consumers together with all components of the tire industry to recover a valuable resource from our waste stream, and recycle it in the most productive way possible.
  
  The TSP makes sound social and economic sense, as well as protecting the environment and building a sustainable recycling industry inside NB. Since everyone who uses or handles tires is involved in the program, it meets the true definition of ‘stewardship.’