TORONTO (Oct. 18 2016) — The Community Renewal Fund, a project administered by Ontario Tire Stewardship, has announced seven new grants for use in building or renewing public spaces using sustainable materials made with Ontario tire rubber.
The communities and projects are as follows:
- City of Brampton, Fred Kee Park: playground surfacing.
- City of Oshawa, Arborwood Park: playground surfacing.
- City of Temiskaming, Community Gathering Area: athletic flooring.
- Corporation of the town of Richmond Hill, Morgan Boyle Park: playground surfacing.
- City of Toronto, Leonard Linton Park: playground surfacing.
- Corkery Community Association, Corkery Skating Rink: rink matting.
- Toronto District School Board, St. Mary's Centre for Health and Wellness: athletic flooring.
The OTS Community Renewal Fund offers grants of up to $50,000 each to communities that want to consider innovative ways of updating public spaces with recycled materials, OTS said in a press release.
The fund promotes the use of Ontario-made recycled rubber products such as rubber mulch, athletic and arena flooring, roof shakes, sidewalk pavers and playground surfacing, according to OTS.
Since its inception, the fund has made grants to 48 projects in 37 communities, OTS said. Municipalities, non-profit community organizations, schools and First Nations communities are all invited to apply for projects this year, it said.
For more information, visit rethinktires.ca.
On June 9, 2016, the Waste Free Ontario Act — which includes the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act and the Waste Diversion Transition Act — became law in Ontario. The new law portends major changes to scrap tire management in Ontario, but the final language is not expected until late October or early November.