Ponoka County is hoping to have a clearer picture of where the Cutting Edge tire recycling saga will be headed sometime in the next month.
Assistant CAO Tom Webber stated the county hopes to have a court injunction application in front of a provincial court judge this week that would allow the county access to the property northeast of Ponoka that was the home of the former Cutting Edge Recycling company.
The site houses thousands of passenger vehicle tires along with 4,500 giant mining tires (GMTs) that have been an eyesore and a pain for both the county and residents since the Cutting Edge operators disappeared without a trace more than two years ago.
While not much has transpired in the past two weeks on the issue, Webber explained the big problem is where the end product from the tires will wind up and who will pay the price for the processing.
“All of the GMTs have a serial number and there is usually a buyer’s agreement that means the responsibility falls back on the company that purchased them as to the end use of the tires, even if the company paid someone to take them,” he stated.
“There is a lot of interest in processing (the GMT) tires, but all of them want some sort of subsidy to either transport or process them. And the county will not be paying anyone anything in dealing with this situation.”
It’s been estimated that the cost of transporting the GMTs to be processed could cost upwards of $1 million.
One Alberta-based company has previously stated it would like to process the tires, either on site or right next to it, but Webber added the company doesn’t have the equipment to appropriately process the tires. As well, the county has spoken with a company in the Ukraine that wants to move $1.6 million worth of processing equipment to take care of the tires. In both cases, the county is concerned where the processed material will end up.
“(The county) has been stung once before on this, so we need to know that this material will have a home to go to,” said Webber, who added the Ukrainian company will be working on a business plan outlining what it will do with the product to present to the county in the next few weeks.
Other tires
Meanwhile, the passenger tires won’t be a problem as Alberta Recycling Management Authority (ARMA) CEO Doug Wright stated those tires are eligible for funding through the ARMA program.
“Our board approved acceptance of these tires and now we are awaiting Ponoka County to gain control and access to the property. Once that happens, 100 per cent of the costs to transport and process the program tires will be paid through the program,” he said.
“The value in this is there is no need for a special agreement with the processors or the county so it can be done simply and efficiently.”
As for the GMTs, ARMA’s position is that since no recycling fee was paid, that it’s a business to business transaction and that funding through ARMA can only be used to pay for tires for which a fee is received.
“While ARMA appreciates the need for a solution, only twice in 20 years has there been a situation like this and given the checkered history of Cutting Edge it has certainly made finding a solution challenging,” Wright concluded.
Early last year the county received notice from ARMA that Cutting Edge’s registered processor status was suspended.