In February 2017, the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change directed the wind up of the Used Tires Program on December 31, 2018 and Ontario Tire Stewardship (OTS) soon after in 2019. The Used Tires Program was the first waste diversion program to be wound up under the Waste Diversion Transition Act, 2016.
The Used Tires Program was operated by OTS to keep passenger and light truck, medium truck, and off-the-road tires out of landfills so that they could be reused and recycled. Tire stewards (i.e. producers) paid a fee to OTS for every tire they supplied into the Ontario market and OTS arranged with collectors, haulers, and processors for the collection and management of used tires.
Tires are the first material designated under Ontario’s individual producer responsibility (IPR) requirements. On January 1, 2019, tire producers became directly responsible and accountable for meeting mandatory and enforceable targets for collecting and recycling used tires. Tire producers, producer responsibility organizations (PROs), and service providers (collectors, haulers, retreaders and processors) are now regulated by the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority. Learn more about IPR.
Wind up process
As directed by the Minister, OTS submitted a wind-up plan to the Authority on November 30, 2017. The Authority consulted on the wind-up plan between December 2017 and March 2018 and approved the wind-up plan with conditions in April 2018. Documents related to the wind up can be found on the right-hand side of this page.
Although the Used Tires Program ended on December 31, 2018, OTS will continue to operate as a corporation for several months to finalize legal, financial and operational obligations. This includes:
- Collection and reconciliation of outstanding steward fees for 2018.
- Processing of payments for collection allowances, transportation incentives, processing incentives and manufacturing incentives in relation to 2018.
Once this is complete, OTS will appoint a liquidator to formally wind up and dissolve OTS as a corporation. The liquidator will initiate a process to sell off any remaining OTS assets (other than TreadMarks and communications materials), lay off remaining OTS staff and wind down OTS as a corporation. Following this process and if there are any excess funds, stewards will receive a rebate. For complete information on the wind up of OTS, view the Wind-Up Plan.
Revised deadlines for tires eligible for OTS incentives
To ensure the flow of used tires during the wind up of the Used Tires Program and the transition to the new regulatory framework beginning in 2019, the Authority changed the deadlines in the Wind-Up Plan for collectors, haulers and processors to be eligible for incentives. Learn more.