Green Tyres Mean Business

The tyre industry definition of a ‘green tyre’ is taking on a new meaning. Ever since tyres have been mass produced these two words have referred to the semi-finished un-vulcanised tyre product. Now the tyre industry is taking on an increasingly ecological focus and ‘green tyre thinking’ is giving retreaders the opportunity to ‘sell’ the uniquely environmental benefits they offer over and above new tyres. With this in mind, Tyres & Accessories interviewed Patrick O’Connell, director of one of the UK’s leading independent retreading operations, and learnt that retreads are not only the greenest tyres on the market, but that they make sound business sense too.

Everyone knows that retreads are greener than new tyres, but now it seems retreaders are making a concerted effort to shout about the eco-benefits of their tyres. The first step has been commissioning new research demonstrating, once again, the environmental soundness of retreads. Numerous reports have been conducted by organisations such as WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) and recently Best Foot Forward, who were commissioned by the Centre for Remanufacturing and Reuse. This independent life cycle analysis was carried out to compare the relative carbon footprints of new tyres and retreaded tyres and concluded that the manufacture and distribution of a retreaded tyre results in significantly less carbon emissions than the production of a new tyre.

According to the latest figures retreaded truck tyres save, on average, 68 litres of oil and 44 kilos of rubber and emit much less carbon dioxide (38.7kg versus 220kg) per tyre. If a tyre casing can be retreaded twice, the numbers quickly add up to very significant environmental gains (see diagram) and that’s without taking into account the energy associated with the disposal of tyres. Applying this across an entire vehicle only increases the savings (see vehicle savings diagram). When extrapolated across a whole fleet, you can see one clear reason why retreads continue to compete successfully against the price driven imports from the Far East.

Bandvulc a leading UK trading partner

Despite the economic slowdown that is being experienced across the board, Bandvulc Group (the company’s combined retread manufacturing and fleet management businesses) achieved impressive annual sales of £32.5 million last year. Analytical data produced by tyre market researchers at Plimsoll Publishing shows that this puts Bandvulc very near the top of a table of the best UK tyre manufacturing and distribution trading partners – in second place overall. To put this in perspective, the Plimsoll calculation (which balances companies’ commercial and financial performance irrespective of overall size) puts Bandvulc ahead of tyre majors Bridgestone UK Ltd (3rd place) and Continental Tyre Group Ltd (4th place). Axle Group, the holding company which owns National Tyres & Autocare and wholesaler Viking International, was ranked number one.

When asked directly Bandvulc representatives confirmed that the company is indeed enjoying combined national sales of “around £30 million per annum.” According to director Patrick O’Connell, Bandvulc Tyres (the retread manufacturing arm) is set to achieve an even better result this year with sales growing 8.95 per cent year-to-date. Sales at Bandvulc Tyre Contracts or BTC (the tyre management division) are also going north, with this business reporting 17 per cent sales growth over the same period last year.

As an independent company Bandvulc Tyre Contracts has the advantage that it can use any tyre distributor including national companies and independent service providers; enabling them to build up a comprehensive network. The Bandvulc Group is also said to be the only company with its own dedicated fleet management and tyre support centre which can offer the independent network call handling for their own fleets. “It’s a challenging time for everyone and transport companies who are not using retreads would do well to consider them as a sustainable option, along with an effective tyre management solution,” Patrick O’Connell commented.

Low rolling resistance treads, without cutting corners

With most manufacturers upping their research and development budgets for low rolling resistance tyres (at the time of going to press Pirelli announced that its Silvio Tronchetti Provera Foundation is partnering with University of Shandong to in order to further research exactly this topic), there is no question that low rolling resistance products are going to play an influential part in future market developments. The question is: what is the most effective way of modifying tyres in order to lower rolling resistance – is it through the type of casing, changing the tread depth, changing the compound, or a combination of all three? Any reduction in rolling resistance can lead to cost savings from fuel and improvements in an operation’s efficiency and profit, together with reductions in CO2 emissions – all things that fleets would be interested in buying into. The problem is that most sources agree that improving one aspect of a tyre’s design eventually has a negative impact on another.

“The trade off with any manufacturers’ tyre is that it is going to be difficult to have a tyre which will last the same as a conventional tyre and also save fuel; it’s a balancing act,” Patrick O’Connell explained. Bandvulc is currently concentrating its efforts on producing tyres which will improve fuel consumption for customers’ fleets, while maintaining a long tread life. The aim is to offer customers a standard tread tyre, but with better rolling resistance, resulting in fuel savings in the region of 5 per cent for a complete truck and trailer. This new product is said to be as good as the leading new tyre manufacturers’ low rolling resistant tyres.

According to the company, this 5 per cent fuel saving is being achieved mainly through developments in compound design. Researchers at Bandvulc’s on-site laboratory and rubber mixing facility, Devon Rubber, claim the company’s new mix will offer customers 5 per cent off their fuel consumption without sacrificing tread life.

Some sources suggest manufacturers of early low rolling resistance tyres achieved their goal by cutting corners on things like tread depth, which O’Connell says automatically reduces rolling resistance. The theory is that many of these early tyres found a market because truck makers were keen to show customers that their vehicles were more fuel efficient than their competitors. At the point of sale no-one was particularly interested in how long the tyre would last, so the main focus was on the truck’s fuel consumption.

However, reducing rolling resistance through cutting back on tread depth can only ever be seen as a “quick fix” as it inevitably leads to a reduction in the life of the tyre itself. “When considering low rolling resistance tyres it is very important that the customer can fully evaluate the tread radius and tread depth in conjunction with the fuel savings that are claimed by the manufacturer. For instance some manufacturers reported fuel saving on lower rolling resistance tyres compared to the standard production of 385/65R22.5s but these proved to be only fractionally better and it is important that the customer has the information to fully assess and compare makes and sizes,” O’Connell explained.

Legislation is now in the process of being drawn up through the European Parliament to categorise tyres by rolling resistance in a similar way to energy ratings used for domestic appliances. Bandvulc representatives told Tyres & Accessories that the Devon-based manufacturer is keen to see this legislation in place and is providing input via Bipaver (The European Retread Manufacturers Association) to assist in this process.

Technical wizardry

Bandvulc is continuing with the investment programme Tyres & Accessories reported on in March 2008’s magazine. In short, what this means is that the last 12 months have seen the introduction of: a Sheorography inspection machine, six additional steam injected Bagomatic presses and new tyre tracking software. The new system, which is known as Merlin (continuing the Knights of the Round Table theme that runs throughout the factory) enables the barcoding of every tyre/casing and storage of data including details of manufacturer, customer/casing supplier, size, etc. As the tyre undergoes various processes within the factory, this information is also stored on the system. All information is held for 10 years, a feature that is a requirement of the company’s ISO 9001 Quality accreditation.

Speaking of ISO accreditation, Bandvulc is keen to point out that it gained ISO 14001 in November 2007, further enhancing the company’s already strong green credentials. The 14001 seal of approval is seen as the foundation of the company’s wide ranging green policy, which, quite literally, has implications for every area of the business. Take factory power for example, as far as electricity is concerned, general work has been carried out on the compressors (ducting, overall pressure reduction, leak audits); all factory luminaries have been replaced with lights that are five times more energy efficient and trials on fitting inverters and soft-starts to motors have also been carried out. It even goes as far as the toilets! To reduce water consumption, electronically controlled urinal flushes and percussion taps have been fitted. The company is so strongly focused on reducing its environmental impact that an Energy Project Manager was appointed at the beginning of 2008 year to continue the work and make it a permanent feature of the company’s method of operation.

Rather than just lecture fleet customers on the benefits of low rolling resistance products and correct tyre pressures, Bandvulc is also keen to practice what it preaches. That’s why in addition to all the product, manufacturing and philosophical changes the company is also seeking to gain fuel savings within its own fleet through driver training and pressure checking. With respect to the first of these two points, earlier this year Bandvulc participated in Fuel Efficiency Research Trials observed by the Department for Transport (DfT) Freight Best Practice programme. The findings of these trials, which Michelin Tyre Plc, Home Delivery Network Ltd and B-Track Solutions Ltd also participated in, can be found at freightbestpractice.org.uk under the Research Reports link.

As we can see Bandvulc takes a holistic approach to the notion of green tyres – with the company’s corporate environmental conscience impacting the business as a whole. What may surprise some, looking at the financial details mentioned above, is just how successful eco-thinking can be.