Insa Turbo researching solvent-free retread adhesion
Insa Turbo is embarking on research into the “…development of a new rubber-rubber adhesion system for the reuse of end-of-life tyres” in order to improve its products and make them “even more sustainable”.
Continue ReadingVipal Europe now responsible for North Africa & Middle East markets
Vipal Rubber has restructured the commercial coverage area of several key regional subsidiaries, and as a result, its European branch office is now serving important markets in North Africa, such as Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt, as well as main business partners in the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The retreading materials and tyre repair specialist made this change to capitalised on the branch’s closer geographic proximity and similar time zone, and thus greater ease in carrying out technical, after-sales and training visits.
Continue ReadingVaculug launches dealer network
Vaculug is introducing a new dealer network strategy from 1 August 2021 onwards. According to the company, the new strategy focuses on “developing new and innovative products and dealer initiatives that provide an advantage to the network in the sales process of Vaculug range of products.”
Continue ReadingHexpol completes 48 million euro Unica acquisition
Hexpol completed the 48 million euro acquisition of 100 per cent of Unión de Industrias C.A., S.A. (Unica) from Espiga Capital, a Spanish based Private Equity firm on 7 July 2021. Unicas turnover in 2020 amounted to 40 million euros, with a profitability “below Hexpol Group”, according to the business’s new owner. Unica will be consolidated into Hexpol from 1 July.
Continue ReadingMarangoni GRP to evaluate production options in coming months
In its latest Annual Report, India’s GRP Ltd. shared that the 2020-21 financial year “proved to be a watershed year in more ways than one” for the Marangoni GRP retreading joint venture. While the world and India were under the grip of COVID-19 for the best part of the 12-month period to 31 March 2021, the company says Marangoni GRP “made rapid strides in several directions” that “set it on a path of high growth and expansion in the next year.”
Continue ReadingFunding for truck & car tyre retreading study
Established in 2020, AZuR is a German-based innovation network for end-of-life tyre recycling with a membership list that includes retreading and recycling firms, academia and state agencies. After receiving financial support from Germany’s government for the first ten months of its existence, AZuR has been self-funded under the patronage of the German Rubber Manufacturers Association (wdk) since June 2021. The network recently began a major study into the ecological and economic aspects of retreading, and reported yesterday that the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) has committed to support this work.
Continue ReadingBridgestone to sell car tyres retreaded at former plant site
As mentioned on Tyrepress.com yesterday, the future of tyre making at the site of Bridgestone’s recently-closed Béthune in France has been secured by a deal signed this month between major European vehicle maintenance and mobility firm Mobivia and French retreading specialist Black Star. With support from Bridgestone, the partners are gearing up to retread car, SUV and light commercial vehicle tyres in Béthune – products that Bridgestone intends to sell through selected retail outlets.
Continue Reading‘A’ for rolling resistance: Vaculug launches KT01
Grantham-based retreader Vaculug has achieved a world-first with the launch of its KT01. Testing at the Applus+ IDIADA testing ground in Spain has verified that this latest addition to the Vaculug portfolio has a lower rolling resistance coefficient than is required for a new tyre to gain an EU label rating of A for this criterion.
Continue ReadingRetreading at former Bridgestone plant: Mobivia & Black Star partner in Béthune project
Major European vehicle maintenance and mobility firm Mobivia and French retreading specialist Black Star have signed an agreement covering the collection, sorting and retreading of passenger car tyres at the site of Bridgestone’s former Béthune plant in France. Bridgestone is lending its support to the project, which will commence in January and is expected to create nearly 200 jobs by 2025, thus providing employment for many former Bridgestone workers.
Continue ReadingVaculug signs 5-year TiDaeX contract for e-jobsheet connectivity
Vaculug has signed an exclusive five-year agreement with CAM International, which will allow its service partners subscribed to the e-jobsheet tablet app for truck, bus, van, industrial and car fleet work to be integrated with its systems via the TiDaeX platform.
Continue ReadingIndag Rubber appoints Shrinivas CEO
One of India’s largest suppliers of retreading materials has a new chief executive officer. As of June 2021, Vijay Shrinivas is chief executive of Indag Rubber Ltd. He succeeds Kewal Krishan Kapur, who’d had been with the company since 2001.
Continue ReadingKraiburg Austria introduces EMAS III environmental management system
The global struggle to reduce global warming through greater sustainability, conservation of resources and lowering of CO2 emissions is undisputedly one of the key problems our generation must address. Kraiburg Austria stresses that “the time for empty appeals, soapbox speeches and lip service is over,” adding that “coordinated measures need to be taken or introduced immediately to ensure the living conditions of future generations.”
Continue ReadingLast-mile delivery: Bridgestone considering van tyre retreading
Bridgestone Corporation is working to incorporate additional sustainability into its business model. Alongside plans to establish and build up a recycling business, retreading remains a key part of these efforts and features in the company’s plans to invest 700 billion yen (£4.6 billion) in strategic resources by 2023. To expand retreading activities, Bridgestone is looking at other segments besides commercial truck and OTR tyre retreading.
Continue ReadingRRG raising the profile of major repair and retreading businesses
At the end of March, UK trade association, the National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) announced that it is launching a new Responsible Repairer Group (RRG) for companies providing major repairs for commercial vehicle, OTR, agricultural as well as plant and equipment tyres. The establishment of the new RRG picks up on the precedent of a similar committee that ran for 20 years until a decade ago and sought to represent the views of those offering major repairs and the companies supplying them – two areas of the tyre business that overlap with the wider retreading segment.
Continue ReadingVipal Rubber: 15 years of operations in Eastern Europe
This year, retreading materials manufacturer Vipal Rubber is celebrating what it views as an important milestone – 15 years of operations in Eastern Europe. Vipal’s activities within this region began with the opening of a distribution centre in Slovenia in 2006, and today it supplies treads and other retreading products to approximately 50 customers there and in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland as well as to markets in the Balkan and Baltic regions.
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