Ontario has amended its waste tyre management regulations to increase the amount of used tyres that producers and producer responsibility organisations (PROs) must manage, while also expanding the required tyre collection network across the province
The changes, announced by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks on 21 September, amend Ontario’s Tires Regulation (O. Reg. 225/18) under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act.
The amendments will raise the tyre management target from 65% to 80%, applying to 2026 and every year thereafter, with the ministry saying the higher target is intended to increase tyre collection, reduce disruptions and help address existing backlogs at collection sites.
The required collection network will also increase from about 4,300 sites to approximately 6,500 sites from 1 January 2027. PROs will have to maintain the existing geographic distribution requirements for the current network and establish an additional 2,200 sites across Ontario, 10% of which must be located in northern Ontario.
The amended regulations also introduce new requirements for how PROs report and manage their collection networks. From 2027, PROs will have to report their tyre collection networks at the beginning of each year, while new conditions will limit when sites can be changed during the year.
The ministry has also introduced rules for PROs that share collection sites or trade performance credits to meet their management targets, saying these measures aim to improve transparency and provide greater certainty for collection sites.
The changes follow a consultation that ran from 2 April to 2 May 2026. The ministry received 81 submissions, including 47 through the Environmental Registry, 34 by email and none by mail.
The increase to the 80% management target and the expansion of the collection network were made following stakeholder feedback and were not included in the original proposal.
Ontario has also removed the existing $1 million cap on administrative penalties for contraventions occurring after the amended regulation is filed. In addition, producer responsibility organisations will have to report financial information, including the costs of collecting and managing materials. The first interim financial report is due in December 2026, covering data from 2023 to 2025, with annual reporting beginning in 2027.
Ontario Tyre Dealers Association’s Adam Moffat commented on his LinkedIn, saying: “There are still questions around how quickly the changes will impact collections this year. Additionally, we need year-to-date collection data from the MECP and RPRA to understand how many additional tyres the PRO networks will need to collect to meet the new 80% target, based on what they are actually collecting today.”
“Increasing the required collection network to approximately 6,500 sites is also positive. Again, we need data showing how many collection sites existed before the network requirements were reduced in 2025. This will help us understand the true impact of adding 2,200 sites and whether some collection sites could still be left without access when the new requirement takes effect. I’m also encouraged by the greater financial reporting requirements for PROs and the new rules intended to provide collection sites with greater stability. Transparency, accountability and reliable access to collection services are all important to ensuring Ontario’s tyre recycling system works as intended,” Moffat added.
