Tire disposal in Ottawa costs nothing if you drop the tires off. The City will not take them in the garbage, so they go back to a tire retailer, which must accept used tires like those it sells, or to the Trail Waste Facility, which takes up to 10 passenger and light truck tires a day from any person, free.
On this page
- Why a tire cannot go out with the garbage.
- What counts as a tire, and what goes in the garbage.
- How to drop tires at Trail Road for free.
- Handing tires back at a tire shop.
- Is there a tire disposal fee in Ontario?
- The Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre is somewhere else.
- Clearing the rest of the garage.
- Every way out for an old tire, and what each one asks of you.
Why a tire cannot go out with the garbage.
The City's Waste Explorer, its item-by-item lookup, files tires as prohibited material that cannot be disposed of in the regular garbage. Its special items page puts the rule in one line: tires should be recycled at participating retailers.
Tires have a system of their own because the companies that sell them pay for it. Since January 1, 2019, tires in Ontario have sat under an extended producer responsibility framework. The Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority, which oversees it, says tire producers are individually accountable and financially responsible for collecting and reusing, retreading or recycling their tires once consumers throw them out.
That framework replaced Ontario Tire Stewardship's Used Tires Program, which ended on December 31, 2018. Most producers hire a producer responsibility organization to arrange the collection, hauling and processing for them. RPRA lists six registered with producer clients, eTracks Tire Management Systems among them.
Paint, propane and the other things no hauler can put on a truck have rules of their own, set out in our guide to what a junk removal truck will not take.
What counts as a tire, and what goes in the garbage.
RPRA defines a tire as a component designed to surround the rim of a vehicle's wheel that weighs 1 kg or more. That one rule decides which bin a tire belongs in.
- In the program – car and truck tires, motorcycle and moped tires, ATV, trailer and RV tires, tractor and farm equipment tires, riding mower and snow blower tires.
- Out of the program – tires on muscle-powered vehicles that carry a person, such as bicycles, strollers and kick scooters, plus e-bike and wheelchair tires.
- Bicycle tires in Ottawa – regular garbage, according to the City's Waste Explorer.
So a bike tire goes out with your household garbage, and the tire off a riding mower goes back into the tire system.
How to drop tires at Trail Road for free.
The City's own landfill takes tires at no charge. The Trail Waste Facility's 2026 rate card lists tires as free, for passenger and light truck tires, to a maximum of 10 a day from any person, and the same row lists tires with rims.
The Waste Explorer repeats the limit: up to 10 passenger and light truck tires per day from any person, brought in for recycling. Tractor and other large tires are not in that free row, so take those to a retailer that sells that kind of tire.
Sort before you leave home. The City's landfill page lists tires among the materials that can be diverted from garbage, subject to quantity limits, and recommends separating loads before you arrive. Residential garbage is charged by weight: $172.70 a tonne in 2026, with a flat $43.20 for a load under 250 kg.
The site is at 4475 Trail Road, off Moodie Drive south of Fallowfield Road. Public hours are Monday to Friday, 7 am to 6 pm, plus the selected Saturdays the City posts on its Trail Waste Facility page.
Payment at the scale house is contactless, and CSA green patch boots and high-visibility clothing are required at the main tipping areas. Our Trail Road landfill guide has the rest of the rate card.
Handing tires back at a tire shop.
The City's first answer is the retailer. RPRA's Where to Recycle map says what a retail store has to do: accept all used tires, including tires on rims, that are similar to the new tires it sells or supplies at that location, up to 10 tires a day per person.
So the shop that sells car tires takes car tires, and a farm or ATV tire goes to a retailer that sells that kind. RPRA also lists snow blower, wheelbarrow, dolly and lawn mower tires among those accepted at retail stores and collection events, and recommends calling a drop-off location before your visit.
The easy moment is when you buy. If a shop is putting new tires on your car, the old set is the same kind of tire it sells.
The Waste Explorer also lists Take It Back! members that accept tires, and asks residents to phone the retailer before returning an item. For the nearest retail drop-off, it points to RPRA's map at rpra.ca.
Is there a tire disposal fee in Ontario?
Not at the drop-off. Asked whether a collection site can charge you for dropping off tires, RPRA answers no, quoting section 68(3) of the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act: the operator of a collection system "shall ensure that no charge is imposed at the time of the collection."
The charge people notice is on the purchase. RPRA says a business may add an environmental fee to recover its recycling costs, and it can show on a receipt as a tire handling fee or an eco-fee. It is optional, the business sets the amount, and RPRA neither charges it nor requires it.
It is not a tax either. A business cannot present it as a tax, a regulatory charge or an RPRA fee. If you think one is being misrepresented, RPRA sends consumers to the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery at 1-800-889-9768.
The Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre is somewhere else.
The Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre takes tires at its construction and demolition site, but it is not a City of Ottawa facility. It sits at 900 Woito Station Road in the Township of Laurentian Valley, run as a partnership of Petawawa, Pembroke, Laurentian Valley and North Algona Wilberforce, and it says current tipping fees apply at that site.
RPRA's map carries a warning that applies to any municipal depot: it may not accept material from people who live outside the municipality, and you may be asked for ID. For an Ottawa address, Trail Road is the City's own.
Clearing the rest of the garage.
If the tires are coming out of a garage or shed along with a dead freezer, renovation offcuts or furniture nobody wanted to move, split the pile. Set the tires aside for the tire shop or Trail Road, since they have a free route of their own.
The rest of the pile is what our junk removal service is for: furniture, mattresses, appliances, renovation debris, scrap metal and electronics, and whole garage, basement and shed clear-outs, across Ottawa and Gatineau. We sort as we load, because scrap metal and electronics cross the Trail Road scale free when they are separated.
Appliances follow their own rules: a fridge or freezer needs its refrigerant removed and a tag before a landfill will take it, which our appliance disposal guide explains. We take them tagged or not.
A barn or drive shed is the same job on a bigger lot, and the City's farm waste exemption moves less of it than people expect. Our page on junk removal in Greely covers that rule.
Call or text (613) 852-4059, or email info@ottawasiterestoration.ca, with a photo of the pile and the way out. The price is agreed before anything is lifted.
Every way out for an old tire, and what each one asks of you.
Rules from the City of Ottawa and the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority, read on 2026-11-01, and linked at the foot of this page.
| Route | Pickup or drop-off | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| The curb | Not collected. | The City's Waste Explorer files tires as prohibited material in the regular garbage. |
| A tire retailer | You drop them off. | Must accept used tires similar to the new tires it sells, rims included, up to 10 a day per person. No charge at drop-off. |
| A Take It Back! member | Phone ahead first. | Listed in the City's Waste Explorer for tires. |
| Trail Waste Facility, 4475 Trail Road | You drive them there. | Free for up to 10 passenger and light truck tires a day from any person. The rate card lists tires with rims. |
| Tractor, farm and equipment tires | A retailer that sells that kind of tire. | Inside the provincial program, but outside Trail Road's free row for passenger and light truck tires. |
| Bicycle, stroller and kick scooter tires | Regular garbage. | Outside the provincial program. The City's Waste Explorer sends bicycle tires to the garbage. |
| Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre | Laurentian Valley, not Ottawa. | Run for Petawawa, Pembroke, Laurentian Valley and North Algona Wilberforce. Tipping fees apply. |
Two places. A tire retailer has to accept used tires similar to the ones it sells, rims included, up to 10 a day per person, and cannot charge you at drop-off. The City's Trail Waste Facility at 4475 Trail Road takes up to 10 passenger and light truck tires a day from any person at no charge.
No. The City's Waste Explorer lists tires as prohibited material that cannot go in the regular garbage, and its special items page says tires should be recycled at participating retailers. Bicycle tires are the exception: the Waste Explorer sends them to the regular garbage.
Up to 10 passenger and light truck tires a day from any person, free, under the City's 2026 rate card. Tractor and other large tires are not in that free row. A larger pile of car tires means another day, or a retailer for part of it, since a retail store's limit is also 10 a day per person.
Yes. The City's 2026 Trail Road rate card lists tires with rims in its free tire row, and RPRA says municipal depots must accept passenger and light truck tires including those with rims. A retail store must accept used tires on rims too, when they are similar to the new tires it sells.
Take them to a drop-off point in the provincial tire program. Tires are an extended producer responsibility material, so the companies that sell them pay for collection and recycling. Retail stores, municipal depots and collection events take them, and RPRA's Where to Recycle map at rpra.ca lists locations near you.
There is none at drop-off. Section 68(3) of the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act bars a charge at the time of collection. A business may add an optional environmental fee, sometimes called a tire handling fee, when you buy tires. It sets the amount itself, and it is not a tax or an RPRA fee.
Yes. Set the tires aside for a tire shop or Trail Road, since they have a free route of their own. We clear the rest: furniture, mattresses, appliances, renovation debris, scrap metal and electronics, and whole garages, basements and sheds. Send a photo to (613) 852-4059 and the price is agreed before anything is lifted.