Date
May
14
2007
Members Present
ITEM 1: PRAYER
Assembly Members
Debates of May 14, 2007 (day 6)
Topics
Statements
Member’s Statement On Tire Recycling
Jane Groenewegen
Hay River South
Mr. Speaker, the Beverage Container Recovery Program is one which was welcomed by Members of this Assembly and has been well received by the public. There are still some questions and some fine tuning that could occur, but generally it has been quite successful. Now it’s time to turn our minds to the expansion of our waste recovery program. One area I would like to speak about today is the recovery of used tires.
There are numerous environmental benefits and some potential economic advantages as well. Right now, discarded tires are being stored at landfill sites and many other locations. I saw with my own eyes right here in Yellowknife what can happen should these tires catch fire. I am surprised that more harm did not come from the fire that started at the Yellowknife landfill on a Saturday morning a few years ago. Runoff from tire fires can contaminate groundwater and surface water and are also virtually impossible to extinguish. Waste tires are also an ideal habitat for mosquitoes to breed in.
Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of ways to recycle tires and turn a potential environmental hazard into something useful. In Canada, tires have been used to line the surface of reservoir slopes and hydroelectric projects. These tires help to stabilize the underwater slope and provide a habitat for animals. Tires can also be sunk in water to create artificial reefs, which become a habitat for fish species. Tire chips can be used to replace conventional construction materials; for example, road fill, gravel, crushed rock or sand. The benefits of using tire chips instead of conventional construction materials are reduced density, improved drainage properties and better thermal insulation.
Mr. Speaker, across Canada, provinces, as far back as 1996, have found innovative ways to both recycle tires and to fund their recycling. Mr. Speaker, tire recycling is not only good for the environment, it can also help to create a new industry; an industry that could be located in Hay River. Tire recycling needs to be included in the Department of ENR’s Waste Management Strategy, and later today I’m going to have questions for the Minister of ENR about what our government is doing about waste tires and whether or not he’d like to buy Hay River a tire shredder. Thank you.
---Applause