Statement from Ryse Solutions Inc: Used Tires Collection System

On April 6, the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA) released a statement on the shortfalls of the used tires collection system as it relates to the fulfillment of Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) services under O. Reg 225/18 (Tires Regulation). 

The statement outlines that there had been shortfalls in the required number of collection sites in various communities and some collection sites had violated the Regulation by charging a fee to some consumers who dropped off tires for recycling. 

When the Regulation came into effect, tire PROs agreed to work together to share their collection networks, building a common collection system that covered the province. That agreement was dissolved in early 2022. This resulted in the fracturing of the common collection system and gaps between each PRO’s own collection network. 

RPRA made the PROs aware of some collection sites charging fees to consumers last fall. Since then, Ryse Solutions has worked with other PROs to taken actionable steps to rectify the issues uncovered within the existing collection system. These steps have included: 

  1. Working with three other tire PROs to build Tire Recycling Ontario (TRO), an informative website for collectors created with the help of a public relations and marketing agency. 
  2. Developing a campaign to educate collection sites on their responsibility as collectors under the Regulation.  
  3. Setting up a toll-free number for collection sites to use if they have questions on their obligations.  
  4. Ongoing transparent communication and collaboration with other PROs and RPRA. 

Since we received last week’s compliance order, we have met with the other PROs in an effort to revive the original agreement to share each PRO’s respective collection network. We are also in the process of hiring an auditor to review our collection network. 

As an experienced PRO, our team understands that finding fair, trusted partnerships with other PROs is key to building a compliant collection system. And as your trusted PRO, we have always aimed to be transparent and accountable as an extension of your compliance team.

We want to assure our customers that we are working diligently to mitigate any issues. During this time there will be no service interruptions and PROs will still be expected to collect tires as normal. We will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure we remain in compliance and provide you with transparency on next steps and the results of our efforts. 

If you have any additional questions, feel free to reach out to our team at info@ryseinca.ca. 

We appreciate your understanding. 

Regards, 

Gordon Day
Vice President, Ryse Solutions

Ryse Solutions Inc. works with producers and packaging suppliers to provide compliance, advisory and material recovery solutions to meet ever-changing regulatory and sustainability demands. Our team has over 50 years of collective experience in circular economy solutions, including the design, implementation and management of producer responsibility programs, which cover a broad range of materials, such as tires, waste electronics, hard-to-recycle packaging and batteries. Backed by a well-developed network of collection, processing and end-market assets, we also offer solutions to producers, retailers, manufacturers and packaging suppliers, which include understanding the flow of material in recycling facilities; research and development on the recyclability of consumer plastic packaging and paper products; and, the development and optimization of commodity end markets.