Tire Stewardship BC has announced grants to 13 organizations to upgrade their community and recreation areas using recycled tires.

Projects across the province include five school playground upgrades, seven cities鈥� parks and two community social recreation areas.

鈥淭hese grant recipients will use B.C. rubber for the surfacing of various communal areas making them durable, non-toxic, and low maintenance. Rubber surfacing made from B.C. scrap tires is also non-slip, making it safer for everyone,鈥� said executive director Rosemary Sutton.

The society will contribute $276,964 to these projects in total, and estimates these community projects will use more than 14,900 scrap tires to surface a variety of community areas. Its day-to-day purpose is to recycle car and bike tires which people can drop off at hundreds of return-to-retailer locations across the province.

Most of the tires in the recycling program become tiny pieces of rubber which can then be used for a variety of surfaces such as colourful and soft playground landings.

The society grants match the cost paid by the community organization for funding up to $30,000, according to the organization鈥檚 community grant program fact sheet. TSBC has released a total of $5.8 million for infrastructure projects through its grant program.

The society was established in 2003 to continue the B.C.鈥檚 first scrap tire recycling program established roughly thirty years ago and is part of B.C.鈥檚 Extended Producer Responsibility initiative, which developed in 1997 from the B.C鈥檚 original scrap tire recycling program.

Since 1991, the province has recycled over 100 million tires.

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