Tire Stewardship BC – a not-for-profit group dedicated to the collection and recycling of scrap tires in British Columbia – announced that it will provide an annual grant of $30,000 to Ocean Legacy Foundation (OLF) for a period of five years. This funding will support OLF in their efforts to conduct clean-up expeditions for scrap tires across British Columbia, with the aim of diverting waste from landfills and promoting circularity in the waste sector.

“Ocean Legacy Foundation is an important partner of ours and we’re delighted to offer them our support over a multi-year period,” said Rosemary Sutton, Executive Director, Tire Stewardship BC. “They’re doing important work to protect our oceans, combat pollution in our communities, and divert waste from landfills. For example, in 2022, OLF removed over 2,400 scrap tires from a small island off the Sunshine Coast of B.C., and the tires were sent to a tire recycling facility in Delta, B.C. Our scrap tire recycling program is one of the most successful in North America and the oldest recycling program in Canada. Since the program was first established in 1991, over 100 million tires have been recycled, and every year the equivalent of over five million scrap vehicle tires are recycled into new products.”

Ocean Legacy Foundation, established in 2013, is a Canadian non-profit organization dedicated to addressing plastic pollution on a global scale. They implement programs that aim to end ocean plastic pollution by combining sustainable technologies, education, and skills training. Their focus is on converting plastic pollution into economic value while empowering local communities to prevent plastic pollution and protect their environment.

“Ocean Legacy Foundation is the only organization that accepts foam-filled tires from beach cleanups and dock deconstructions. They remove the foam from the tires and then we’re able to recycle them. Prior to their help with the foam removal, these tires ended up in our landfills,” added Sutton. “What is also great about our partnership with Ocean Legacy Foundation and these clean-up expeditions is that the scrap tires that are collected in B.C. are also processed and re-purposed in the province, contributing to the circular economy.”

“This funding will allow us to assist more communities in physically removing pollution from ecologically sensitive environments so that we can create cleaner and safer places for wildlife, communities and eco-tourism,” said Chloé Dubois, Executive Director, Ocean Legacy Foundation. “Together with Tire Stewardship BC, we look forward to cleaning up more of our beautiful province and keeping our landfills and oceans cleaner. “

Press release by Tire Stewardship BC.