Old tires pile up quietly. A set of winters swapped out here, a spare replaced there, and soon there is a stack in the corner of the garage.
The good news about tire disposal Calgary residents deal with is that tires recycle for free in Alberta through a provincial program. The catch is that they cannot go in your garbage cart, a rental bin, or the landfill.
Alberta runs a tire recycling program through Alberta Recycling (ARMA). Drop-off is free at several kinds of location.
Tires can go in a Cal-Waste bin, but they carry a small per-item disposal fee because they have to be routed to a tire processor rather than landfilled. Recycling them yourself at a depot is free, so if you have a stack it is usually worth the separate trip.
If you are doing a garage cleanout with a few tires mixed in, you can add them to the bin for the item fee, or set them aside for a free depot run and let the bin handle everything else — the broken shelving, old tools, boxes and clutter.
Large-scale tire disposal Calgary businesses and acreage owners deal with is a different job from a household stack. If you have a large number of tires, plan a dedicated depot trip. Because Eco Centres have per-visit limits, a very large quantity may take more than one trip or a call ahead to a facility that handles bulk. For most households, one visit clears the whole stack.
If the tires are still on rims, ask about that before you load the car. It is the most common reason people end up making a second trip.
More than most people expect. A Calgary household running summers and winters swaps four tires twice a year. Tires last roughly six to ten seasons, so a single vehicle sheds a set every few years.
Add a second vehicle, a trailer, a set inherited with the house, and a spare or two, and a garage can quietly hold a dozen. That is why tire disposal Calgary drivers put off tends to arrive as one big pile rather than a few at a time.
The good news is that the whole pile costs nothing to recycle. It is only the trip that takes effort.
Household drop-off limits are designed for households. If the tires came from a shop, a farm, a fleet or a rental property, the route is different.
Worth knowing, because it is genuinely one of the better recycling stories in the province. Collected tires are shredded and processed into:
The program is funded through a levy paid when tires are bought new, which is why drop-off itself is free. You have already paid for the recycling.
The usual pattern on a garage clear-out is a handful of tires mixed in with everything else. Handle it in two steps.
If there is a lot of metal in there too, it is worth setting aside for scrap before the rest goes in.
Free options include tire and auto shops, Alberta Recycling (ARMA) depots, and City Eco Centres. All recycle tires at no charge.
Yes. Alberta's tire recycling program makes drop-off free at participating shops, ARMA depots and Eco Centres, within the per-visit limits.
Yes, for a small per-item fee, because tires have to go to a processor rather than the landfill. If you have more than a few, recycling them free at a depot usually costs less.
It depends on the depot. Some prefer tires off the rims, others accept them either way. Call ahead to check.
Eco Centres accept tires from residents free of charge up to a set number per visit. Check the City's current limit, and ask shops and ARMA depots about their own limits.
Plan more than one trip, or call ahead to a facility that handles bulk. Most households clear the whole stack in one free visit.
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