Ontario’s used tire recycling system is facing criticism from industry groups as uncollected tires build up at collection sites and recycling targets have been reduced.
On Jan. 26, 2026, Wally Dingman, executive director of the Automotive Recyclers of Canada, said the sector has “been sounding the alarm for months.” In a LinkedIn post, he questioned why the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks has not acted.
Dingman shared reporting by the Toronto Star that said an Ontario tire recycler was importing used tires from the United States while illegal tire stockpiles continue to grow near Sudbury and Ottawa.
The same article was shared that day by Adam Moffatt of the Ontario Tire Dealers Association and the Tire Dealers Association of Canada.
“The system is not failing, it has failed,” Moffatt wrote. “Still no answers, tires continue to pile and consumers continue to pay.”
On Jan. 23, 2026, Moffatt also shared a report by OrilliaMatters describing a tire shop in Brechin, Ont. that had run out of space to store used tires.
“The stories keep piling up,” Moffatt wrote. He asked whether tire collection sites would need to post “no more scrap tires” signs and turn customers away before action is taken.
Further criticism came on Jan. 25, 2026, from James Hamilton, executive director of the Used Car Dealers Association of Ontario. In a LinkedIn post, he said those running Ontario’s tire collection and recycling model “seem to have forgotten the hard lessons learned.”
Those lessons were referenced the same day by Scott Cavanaugh, president of All Star Transportation and Tire Recycling Ltd. He pointed to the 1990 Hagersville tire fire, which burned for 17 days and released large volumes of toxic smoke
Ontario’s used tire recycling framework is set out in Ontario Regulation 225/18 under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016. The regulation took effect on Jan. 1, 2019
Under the regulation, companies that sell tires into Ontario — known as producers — are responsible for collecting and recycling the same weight of tires they supply. Producers may manage this themselves or work with a producer responsibility organization. Registered collection sites must accept used tires at no cost to customers. Producers must meet annual reporting and performance requirements.
Oversight and enforcement are handled by the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority. RPRA is a non-Crown, not-for-profit corporation created under provincial law. It oversees compliance with resource recovery regulations, operates digital registries and audits producer data. The agency reports to the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks through its board chair.
On Jan. 13, 2026, RPRA issued a statement on the distribution of 2023 settlement funds related to unmet tire collection requirements. RPRA said it finalized a method to distribute $7.4 million, minus administrative costs, to eligible producers that met or exceeded their 2023 minimum collection obligations. Payments are expected to begin in Q2 2026 and finish by Q4 2026.
RPRA said it retained PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada to administer the funds and held a virtual information session on Jan. 21, 2026. The Crown corporation directs collection site operators and haulers experiencing pickup problems to contact its compliance team. Attempts to reach RPRA by phone were unsuccessful due to a malfunctioning phone system.
As of publication, neither RPRA nor the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks has issued a public response to the recent industry statement. The RPRA did not respond to requests for comment.
