Located in Legal, Alberta, the new facility is centrally located to service the mining industry in western Canada. Through a partnership with one of North America’s leaders in tyre recycling, the plant will have the annual capacity to shred nearly 6,000 OTR tyres that will then be turned into specialty products such as mulch, running tracks and rubber mats.

Bob Bennett, vice-president of operations in Canada at Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group, said: “Until now, there has not been a viable disposal or reuse solution available for scrap tyres on mine sites in western Canada. Tyres have been reused as berms or retaining walls or stockpiled and in some cases they’ve been buried. We sell and service these tyres, and we wanted to offer customers a simple, proven, environmentally friendly alternative when tyres reach the end of their life. This arrangement works well because we’re already serving customers on many of these mine sites.”

Scrap tyres, up to and including ultra-class 63in (1.6m) tyres, will be collected from mine sites across British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan for processing at the Legal facility. The OTR tyres will be segmented and shredded in a closed circuit; the final product – tyre crumb – will be stockpiled for additional processing or reuse. Further size reduction and steel separation is possible depending on the downstream application. Earthmover tyre crumb has a variety of uses, including road base, drainage layers in engineered landfills, mats, playgrounds, running tracks, mulch, football fields and tyre-derived fuel.

Dan Allan, senior vice-president at Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group, commented: “This is a solution that’s been a long time coming, and we’re proud to provide this service. Our customers are always looking for ways to be more environmentally responsible and this is going to make a big difference. We see ourselves as innovators, but also as partners to our customers, and this recycling plant is a great example of our unique approach.”