A California company has made the winning bid to recycle tires in central and northern Saskatchewan, completing the takeover of a market once held by a Saskatoon business.CRM Rubber, based in Newport Beach, California, has been chosen to process used tires from central and northern Saskatchewan. The company won a previous bid to recycle tires in the southern part of the province and opened a facility in Moose Jaw.The request for proposal was issued by Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan. TSS operates under a Product Stewardship Program approved by the Ministry of Environment to handle scrap tires.In a press release, TSS said it will immediately begin negotiations with CRM on a contract. Once secured, CRM will develop a new tire processing facility in the Saskatoon area.TSS said they will not share the names of the three unsuccessful bidders, or any other information about the bids received, due to the commercially sensitive nature of the contents.Colin Fraser, Chair of TSS said his company “is committed to running an efficient program on behalf of tire retailers and consumers.TSS CEO Stevyn Arnt said, “With processing in the south and in the north, program costs will be reduced as will environmental impacts."Shercom Industries of Saskatoon formerly recycled all the tires in the province. CEO Shane Olson said that Scott Moe met with him in 2016 to ask what Shercom needed to rebuild after the rubber products manufacturer suffered a severe fire. Olson said that they needed guaranteed supply in a long-term contract and was given assurances it would happen.On the Evan Bray radio show Wednesday morning, Olson said Shercom wanted an increase in what it was paid to process tires in line with inflation, but was instead told by TSS that they wanted to decrease such payments by 30%.TSS sought a second entrant into the Saskatchewan market, but after CRM got the southern contract, Shercom refused to bid on the northern one, due to economic reasons and a loss of faith in TSS.Shercom now imports crumb rubber from out of province to manufacture rubber products, while its tire processing machinery sits idle. The situation raised concerns from Jason Aebig of the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce. .In a media event at the Saskatchewan Legislature, the Opposition NDP blasted the government for where tire processing has gone and a lack of disclosure on why."Essentially, we've gone from one Saskatchewan company doing the work to one California based company doing the work," said Ethics Critic Meara Conway."It makes no sense. This was a tire fire of a decision from the beginning. And we have a lot of questions about exactly who is benefiting."The Moe government has access to the market feasibility study that supposedly justifies a second processor and effectively ran a local Saskatchewan company out of the market. He also has the procurement review of TSS, conducted by former Deputy Minister Cam Swan. We're again calling on the premier today to release the feasibility study and to release the procurement review."Although Shercom made crumb rubber and commercial and residential rubber products after it processed the tires, CRM is only shredding them. Environment Critic Jared Clarke said it's unclear where the product is going.“Business have serious concerns that our scrap tires may be being shipped out of province in violation of the Ministry of Environment's own guidelines," Clarke said.Olson made these claims in questions sent to the TSS, premier, and environment ministry by email on May 27: "Is the TSS aware that semi loads of whole and bailed tires are still being shipped to Alberta on a regular basis as reported by the trucking industry and current tire collectors?"Is the TSS paying a premium to the collectors for the extra distance travelled?""Is the TSS aware that no processing of tires into crumb is happening in Moose Jaw? The tires are only be shred and shipped out.""Is the TSS aware that tire shred from Moose Jaw is being sent to Alberta to fill TDA projects (tire derived aggregate)? This is the very thing that the TSS was critical about Shercom selling TDA to local projects.""What is the TSS paying for the services rendered in Mosse Jaw? Are they paying the proposed shred rate, or is the program paying higher incentive rates for work not being done in this province?"TTS issued a statement saying: "Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan (TSS) has selected a provider from the multiple bids submitted through a fair and open request for proposals process facilitated by the Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement. This is in alignment with the findings in Cam Swan’s report, the summary of which was provided here:https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/news-and-media/2023/october/18/tire-recycling-and-processing-review-completed-with-action-plan-underway. "TSS will now work with the successful proponent to agree upon a contract. We expect a tire processing facility to open in the Saskatoon area in the coming months, resulting in jobs added to the region. Any questions regarding the RFP process should be directed to Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan."Attached below is Olson's email to TSS and the Saskatchewan government refuting claims Arnt made for an April 28 Western Standard article.
A California company has made the winning bid to recycle tires in central and northern Saskatchewan, completing the takeover of a market once held by a Saskatoon business.CRM Rubber, based in Newport Beach, California, has been chosen to process used tires from central and northern Saskatchewan. The company won a previous bid to recycle tires in the southern part of the province and opened a facility in Moose Jaw.The request for proposal was issued by Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan. TSS operates under a Product Stewardship Program approved by the Ministry of Environment to handle scrap tires.In a press release, TSS said it will immediately begin negotiations with CRM on a contract. Once secured, CRM will develop a new tire processing facility in the Saskatoon area.TSS said they will not share the names of the three unsuccessful bidders, or any other information about the bids received, due to the commercially sensitive nature of the contents.Colin Fraser, Chair of TSS said his company “is committed to running an efficient program on behalf of tire retailers and consumers.TSS CEO Stevyn Arnt said, “With processing in the south and in the north, program costs will be reduced as will environmental impacts."Shercom Industries of Saskatoon formerly recycled all the tires in the province. CEO Shane Olson said that Scott Moe met with him in 2016 to ask what Shercom needed to rebuild after the rubber products manufacturer suffered a severe fire. Olson said that they needed guaranteed supply in a long-term contract and was given assurances it would happen.On the Evan Bray radio show Wednesday morning, Olson said Shercom wanted an increase in what it was paid to process tires in line with inflation, but was instead told by TSS that they wanted to decrease such payments by 30%.TSS sought a second entrant into the Saskatchewan market, but after CRM got the southern contract, Shercom refused to bid on the northern one, due to economic reasons and a loss of faith in TSS.Shercom now imports crumb rubber from out of province to manufacture rubber products, while its tire processing machinery sits idle. The situation raised concerns from Jason Aebig of the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce. .In a media event at the Saskatchewan Legislature, the Opposition NDP blasted the government for where tire processing has gone and a lack of disclosure on why."Essentially, we've gone from one Saskatchewan company doing the work to one California based company doing the work," said Ethics Critic Meara Conway."It makes no sense. This was a tire fire of a decision from the beginning. And we have a lot of questions about exactly who is benefiting."The Moe government has access to the market feasibility study that supposedly justifies a second processor and effectively ran a local Saskatchewan company out of the market. He also has the procurement review of TSS, conducted by former Deputy Minister Cam Swan. We're again calling on the premier today to release the feasibility study and to release the procurement review."Although Shercom made crumb rubber and commercial and residential rubber products after it processed the tires, CRM is only shredding them. Environment Critic Jared Clarke said it's unclear where the product is going.“Business have serious concerns that our scrap tires may be being shipped out of province in violation of the Ministry of Environment's own guidelines," Clarke said.Olson made these claims in questions sent to the TSS, premier, and environment ministry by email on May 27: "Is the TSS aware that semi loads of whole and bailed tires are still being shipped to Alberta on a regular basis as reported by the trucking industry and current tire collectors?"Is the TSS paying a premium to the collectors for the extra distance travelled?""Is the TSS aware that no processing of tires into crumb is happening in Moose Jaw? The tires are only be shred and shipped out.""Is the TSS aware that tire shred from Moose Jaw is being sent to Alberta to fill TDA projects (tire derived aggregate)? This is the very thing that the TSS was critical about Shercom selling TDA to local projects.""What is the TSS paying for the services rendered in Mosse Jaw? Are they paying the proposed shred rate, or is the program paying higher incentive rates for work not being done in this province?"TTS issued a statement saying: "Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan (TSS) has selected a provider from the multiple bids submitted through a fair and open request for proposals process facilitated by the Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement. This is in alignment with the findings in Cam Swan’s report, the summary of which was provided here:https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/news-and-media/2023/october/18/tire-recycling-and-processing-review-completed-with-action-plan-underway. "TSS will now work with the successful proponent to agree upon a contract. We expect a tire processing facility to open in the Saskatoon area in the coming months, resulting in jobs added to the region. Any questions regarding the RFP process should be directed to Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan."Attached below is Olson's email to TSS and the Saskatchewan government refuting claims Arnt made for an April 28 Western Standard article.
