Other options besides burning being sought for used tires

Different proposals are being sought to deal with the high volume of used tires generated in Nova Scotia each year, an official says.

“There have been some challenges in terms of acceptance of the tire-derived aggregate materials,” said Jeff MacCallum, CEO of Divert Nova Scotia, formerly the Resource Recovery Fund Board.

Approximately one million passenger car and light truck tires are generated within Nova Scotia each year. The Lafarge cement plant in Brookfield is interested in conducting a pilot program, which, if successful, could see the plant accepting about 425,000 tires each year to use as a fuel source in its cement kiln.

A research program has been underway for three years at Dalhousie University in Halifax to determine the environmental merits of tire burning.

And lead researcher associate professor Dr. Mark Gibson said lab results show promise in producing lower carbon levels than the fossil fuels currently used at Lafarge.

“So we are left with the problem of all these tires,” Gibson said, of the annual accumulation.

But the burning option would help deal with that issue, he said, describing it as an “almost a giftwrapped opportunity,” providing the real-life results match those of the laboratory tests.

Nova Scotia’s used tires are currently shredded by Halifax C&D Recycling in Goodwood, with some of the material being used in a variety of ways.

“They have similar properties that make them advantageous because of flotation and other properties for road construction and around foundations and for septic beds,” he said.

But McCallum acknowledged “there have been some challenges” in terms of acceptance for TDA materials.

“The contractor has been able to move the volumes but it has been a challenge from time to time,” he said.

MacCallum said about 6,600 cubic metres, or the equivalent of 660,000 used tires, are stored in bunkers in Goodwood.

“So, ideally we’d like to have more than one outlet for material, just to reduce the risk for the organization and potentially the cost.”