Tire Stewardship British Columbia will be providing $30,000 to the Ocean Legacy Foundation in each of the next five years to support the foundation’s scrap-tyre clean up operations in BC
In 2022 alone, Ocean Legacy cleaned up over 2,000 scrap tyres from a small island off the Sunshine Coast.
“We are responsible for the tyre recycling so we felt it was just a natural fit, and really just an obligation on our part to fund the work that Ocean Legacy is doing,” said Tire Stewardship B.C. executive director Rosemary Sutton.
Ocean Legacy works to remove foam-filled tyres from beach cleanups or dock deconstructions, and then passes them to other operators to recycle.
“These funds are going to be critical in allowing our team to continue accessing remote coastal locations around the province to remove pollution that has been reported,” said Chloe Dubois, Executive Director and co-founder of Ocean Legacy.
“I think it’s just important to highlight that humans are really the only species on this planet that create garbage. If we are in a position to take responsibility for the waste that we create, we need to do so,” Dubois said.
“This partnership with Tire Stewardship B.C. is an important puzzle piece in helping to secure that annual funding,” said Dubois.
Established in 1991, Tire Stewardship B.C has recycled more than 100 million tyres into new products.
Sutton added; “I think for us, it is just an absolute win. We are obligated to deal with tyres, and to go from having to say, ‘I’m sorry they have to go to the landfill’, to the fact that we now have a solution is an incredible win for everybody. For us, for Ocean Legacy, for the public, for the environment.”
