The rubber hits the road at this new tire recycling plant in C.B.S.

Sep 10, 2023

Newfoundland and Labrador has a new tire recycling facility in Conception Bay South that will not only help the environment but also create jobs, according to the provincial government.

The new facility can process about 700 tires an hour, with a target of about 500,000 annually.

"It's a solution we've been trying to find for tires in this province for quite a while," Environment Minister Bernard Davis said Monday.

"That's going to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are created by trucking these tires, that would normally be trucked to other provinces, to be dealt with."

Tires will be shredded and turned into "tire-derived aggregate" or TDA — a product used in civil engineering and construction for lightweight fill, drainage, thermal insulation and backfill.

Bev Connell, director of Coastal Tire Recycling, said the product usually replaces the use of rock in typical construction jobs.

"[An] example might be like over the top of culverts if you don't want too much weight on top of a culvert," said Connell.

"It always has to be covered. You don't leave any TDA exposed in any construction project. So it's always covered with rock or other soil material."

Right now, the product is being used for demonstration projects as a way to show contractors how to use it and its benefits. It costs about $5-$7 per tonne.

Connell said TDA has been tested outside of the province for about 30 years. The projects his company takes on will be a first for Newfoundland and Labrador.

"If it's made properly and used properly there's no environmental impact," he said.

There's also room for other products down the road — such as blast mats — Connell said, pointing to a similar operation in Nova Scotia.

Right now there are four full-time employees at the new facility, which leans on a parent construction company nearby for mechanics, truck drivers and equipment operators for snow removal.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador

With files from Mark Quinn