Scarborough auto shop owner faces city fine with no way to clear 1,000+ scrap tires

Seid Sayed, owner of Flame Auto Repair on Kingston Road in Scarborough, is facing a city fine if he doesn't dispose of more than a thousand scrap tires piled inside a storage area and outside his shop—but he says he has no way to remove them.

The city's municipal licensing and standards division told Sayed he had until Thursday to clear the tires or face a fine. He was told he could request additional time, but he cannot get a producer responsibility organization (PRO)—companies that contract haulers and recyclers to collect and process tires—to commit to picking them up. A PRO used to collect Sayed's tires twice a month, but the last pickup was about seven months ago.

"This isn't a landfill. This is a private small business," Sayed said. "It's not only an eyesore. It's a safety hazard."

The crisis stems from Ontario's January 2025 changes to tire recycling rules. The province reduced collection targets from 85 per cent to 65 per cent of used tires collected by weight, and also reduced the required number of collection sites across the province. Tire producers are now responsible for recycling individually but can outsource their responsibility to PROs.

City director Paul Di Salvo said the municipality recognizes that some businesses have trouble getting rid of scrap tires. "While we recognize these difficulties, large tire stockpiles can pose environmental, health and safety risks, including fire hazards and pest breeding," Di Salvo said. The city said in this case it has issued only a warning, not a fine.

Adam Moffatt, executive director of the Ontario Tire Dealers Association, called the stockpiles a growing concern. "We're probably seeing more tires backlogged right now through the system than we saw at the end of last year," Moffatt said. "We're getting calls on a daily basis from dozens of tire dealers and collection sites across the province who are facing environmental concerns."