Ontario Regulation 555/24, made under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016, amends Ontario Regulation 225/18 regarding tire collection and management in Ontario. This regulation introduces new definitions, calculation methods, and operational requirements for tire producers, emphasizing sustainability and accountability. Key definitions include terms like “average weight of supply,” “small tire,” and “Far North,” clarifying their roles in compliance. It refines the definition of a “producer” and adjusts tire types to distinguish between large and other tires. A new section outlines the population basis for regulatory references, relying on the most recent census data. The regulation establishes a formula for determining a producer’s average weight of supply over three prior years and exempts producers with average supplies below 1,175 kilograms from specific obligations.

Producers must now establish and operate tire collection systems annually, meeting specific requirements based on supply volume and location. Larger producers (with a supply of 11,765 kilograms or more) must ensure a proportionate number of collection sites in municipalities and territorial districts, while smaller producers must maintain at least one site per qualifying area. For producers without physical retail locations, options like mail-in or courier-based collection services are required. Regulations also facilitate tire collection from remote areas, including Indigenous communities and municipalities in the Far North, ensuring accessibility.

The amendment introduces flexibility by allowing producers to replace up to 25% of mandated tire collection sites with public tire collection events, provided certain conditions are met. Adjacent municipalities may also share collection sites, as long as the reallocation does not exceed 10% of the required total. Producers of large tires and those relying on remote sales methods must ensure province-wide tire collection, with services offered free of charge. Additionally, collection sites must be publicly accessible and adhere to operational standards, including accepting small tires and ensuring coverage in underserved areas.

The regulation emphasizes tire reuse, retreading, and recycling to meet sustainability targets, requiring producers to manage 65% of collected tires by 2025, increasing to 70% in subsequent years. Managed tires must undergo activities such as reuse, retreading, or processing into new products, with stringent tracking to avoid double-counting. Compliance requires using registered haulers, processors, and retreaders, and ensuring that materials used for new products replace raw materials effectively. Specific reuse applications include blasting mats, paving products, landscaping mulch, and aggregate for road construction.

Ontario Regulation 555/24 aims to commit the Ontario government to a circular economy, by holding tire producers accountable for the life cycle of their products. By improving collection infrastructure, incentivizing sustainable practices, and addressing accessibility challenges, the regulation aims to reduce environmental impact and promote resource recovery across Ontario.

Ontario (555/24) January 4, 2025