News Release Archive
ENVIRONMENT--PLANS FOR TIRE RECYCLING JOBS ANNOUNCED
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Environment Minister Wayne Adams has given the Resource Recovery
Fund Board Inc. authority to negotiate with an Atlantic Canada
based company to open at least one plant in Nova Scotia to
process used tires. The operation will create 75 jobs.
TRACC (Tire Recycling Atlantic Canada Corporation) is a
partnership between the Atlantic Canada office of the Mennonite
Central Committee and Tire Recycling Canada (TRC), which has a
record of successful operation and innovation in the tire
reprocessing industry. It has six years of research and
development expertise and has profitably operated a plant in
Winkler, Manitoba, for three years.
"This plant is exactly the type of environmental industry we
envisaged when we began work on the solid waste resource
management strategy," said Mr. Adams. "We will take a product
that has been thrown away and turn it into value added products
and paycheques. We are harvesting the trash of the past to create
the economy of tomorrow," the minister said.
TRACC will set up its plant in a part of the province that has a
high unemployment rate. The exact location is subject to
negotiations between the company and the Resource Recovery Fund
Board Inc. Fifty-five jobs will be created at the plant when it
opens in the fall and another 20 people will be employed
collecting scrap tires across Nova Scotia. A number of other jobs
will be created during the construction phase of the project.
The company's product line will include turning scrap tires into
weight room mats, truck bumpers, catch basin and manhole covers
and risers, wheel chocks and sheet stock. The steel from the
tires will be recycled by foundries, while the fibre will be
reused in making the risers and collars.
TRACC has targeted Nov. 30, 1996 as the opening day of operations
at its Nova Scotia facility. As a result, Mr. Adams has decided
it is in the best interest to extend the deadline for banning
tires from landfills until that date.
"It is not fair to the municipal units of this province, who have
worked as our partners in setting up the Solid Waste Strategy, to
force them to stockpile tires until the plant is operational,"
said the minister. "This short delay is entirely acceptable when
the eventual return to the environment and the economy will be
even better than we originally thought."
TRACC was selected as the preferred candidate to operate the
facility following a thorough analysis by an independent
consultant with expertise in the industry. The consultant was
hired by RRF Board Inc. and submitted his recommendations to that
organization. The consultant reviewed a total of 60 specific
proposals. The criteria for the review included maximizing the
environmental and economic benefits to Nova Scotia.
The minister will announce further details on the construction
schedule and location once negotiations are successfully
completed.
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Contact: Paul McEachern 902-424-2575
Elwood Dilman 902-684-1235
Doug Vicars 902-456-9215 (cellular)
trp Mar. 25, 1996 - 2:00 p.m.
