Michelin’s Rickard Acknowledged for Service to Tyre Recovery Sector

Years of work in the field of tyre recovery and in the tyre industry as a whole has earned Michelin Tyre PLC managing director Jim Rickard a lifetime achievement award from the Tyre Recovery Association (TRA). Rickard is the first ever recipient of this award from the association, which he received at the recent TRA annual dinner in front of more than 100 distinguished guests from the tyre recovery industry.

“Jim has been a fantastic ambassador for the tyre industry and has given his support over a number of years to responsible recycling initiatives,” commented Peter Taylor OBE, secretary general for the Tyre Recovery Association. “This is the first time the TRA has made such an award, which illustrates the pivotal role and impact that Jim has made to this important area of our industry.”

Rickard studied engineering at Cambridge University before finding employment with British Leyland at its Solihull production plant. He then joined Michelin in 1978 where he progressed through a range of roles including production workshop manager, plant quality manager, UK training manager and European corporate communications manager, before moving into his current role in 2004.

Alongside his responsibilities for Michelin, Rickard is a board member of the British Tyre Manufacturers’ Association and of the Tyre Industry Federation. Under his previous role as chairman of the Tyre Industry Federation (TIF), Rickard was instrumental in moving ownership of the industry’s Responsible Recycler Scheme to the TIF in order to give it greater visibility, impact and effectiveness. The scheme now accounts for the responsible reprocessing of more than three quarters of the UK’s annual waste tyre arisings.