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Yukon's $5 tire recycling fee could be set to increase

A fee most Yukon vehicle owners pay at least four times — sometimes eight if you count summer and winter tires — could soon be increased.

Yukon collects a $5 surcharge on every new car and truck tire that measures less than 60 cm across. The money helps cover the cost of shipping old tires south to Alberta for recycling.

The surcharge hasn't increased since it was first introduced in 2003 but that might be about to change.

The fee isn't covering the cost of shipping tires from remote communities, says Dwayne Muckosky of Yukon's Department of Community Services.

"When we start collecting tires from the communities, the costs do go up," he said. "It's a very labour-intensive process to collect the tires."

The government of Yukon is now holding consultations about the idea of raising the fee.

"Overwhelmingly, Yukoners are supportive [of] revisiting those fees," Muckosky said.

The territory is also looking at increasing fees on beverage containers to pay for recycling.

Large trucks now exempt from fee

Along with an increase to the basic $5 recycling fee, the government might also start applying it to larger tires that are currently exempt, such as those on commercial trucks.

"There are tires that we collect at many of our landfills for which there was no recycling fee collected by the Yukon government," said Muckosky.

Yukon collects around 40,000 tires each year for recycling.

This year, an estimated 56,000 tires will be shipped south.

Muckosky says the territory will look at shredding tires to allow more to fit inside the trucks transporting them to recycling facilities as a way to reduce costs.

The territory is also looking for ideas for how it could use old tires locally though Muckosky says it would be cost-prohibitive to build a recycling site in Yukon.

Recycled tires can be used for making asphalt, concrete and other products — even including new tires.