News and feature articles relating to recycling, including collection, of end of life tyres.
At present the Italian retreading market, following years of crisis, is experiencing a new birth. “From this and the coming years we expect that industry will recognise retreading in terms of its quality and its utility to the market,” comments Brenno Benaglia, vice-president of the Italian retreading association AIRP (Associazione Italiana Ricostruttori Pneumatici) and the European association Bipaver.
Five years after Tyres & Accessories last toured Bridgestone’s retread manufacturing facility in Bourne, Lincolnshire, the development plans the firm envisioned then can now clearly be seen in action. Equipment upgrades, process enhancements and the evolution of the company’s corporate philosophy mean the company has been further [re]moulded – if you will – into the broader Bridgestone/Bandag pattern, while at the same time offering the production flexibility the local market requires.
BioSyn Resources LLC reports that it has entered the European market with the its ultraclean multi-functional military jet fuel. According to the company, BioSyn completed the first exports in February. The first customer is Somerset-based Tyre Renewals Ltd. Tyre Renewals reportedly plans to fuel its diesel engines operating in enclosed environments with the jet fuel. This specifically refers to engines driving oil pumps that operate inside buildings. The BioSyn is said to have been selected as it is “devoid of hard-to-burn components” and “does not produce nauseating fumes.”
According to Ulrika Persson, global marketing coordinator at Eldan Recycling A/S, at Reifen 2012 the Danish company intends to focus on its new system for recycling mining tyres and further improved systems for steel cleaning. “Last year we also introduced a combi-system for recycling of tyre, cable and electronic waste, which we also plan to focus on,” shared Persson. “As always we will also present our standard equipment, which is always popular to discuss.”
You may not have heard the news, but tomorrow is World Water Day. Bridgestone, however, is well aware of our favourite liquid’s link to 22 March, and to mark the occasion the Japanese company has reported on the water management initiatives it has in place to promote the sustainable use of water resources in its manufacturing processes. These initiatives include using water in an efficient manner and thoroughly managing waste water, and are in place at various European, Asian and American locations.
The owner of a Devon recycling firm will have to pay £2,590 in costs after illegally exporting used car tyres to Vietnam. Paul Avery was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work in the case which was brought by the Environment Agency (EA). EA officers visited Hill Barton Business Park near Exeter on 12 May 2011 and reportedly discovered thousands of waste tyres at a premises trading as Avery Tyre Recycling. Some had already been made up into bales whiles others were in loose piles.
The organisers of Tyrexpo Africa have been pleased by the response to this year’s show at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. Over 140 delegates from more than 70 countries exhibited at the show, while total attendees for the three-day show numbered 2,652. ECI International sales director, Rowena Suthers stated that the company was “very happy with the overall exhibitor response”. ECI has confirmed that Tyrexpo Africa 2014 will take place at the Sandton Convention Centre on 4, 5, 6 March 2014.
New Zealand’s Ministry for the Environment has pledged NZ$135,000 (£70,000) to fund research into tyre recycling options. Environment minister Nick Smith announced on 14 March that the money will go to the Product Stewardship Foundation, who will utilise it through Tyrewise, a product stewardship programme it has established. The grant covers 79 per cent of the costs the Tyrewise project will incur and is payable upon the completion of seven milestones that culminate in readying a recycling scheme for launch.
Until 2015, retread tyres are outside the remit of labelling Regulations 1222/2009 and 1235/2011, but at the recent Tire Technology Expo in Cologne, Germany, Bipaver secretary, Ruud Spuijbroek presented the progress the organisation has made – and hopes to continue to make, if adequate funds are available – in what it believes could be “a new beginning” for small and medium enterprise (SME) truck tyre retreading, with labelling its catalyst. Bipaver used the event to explain in full the current details of its “Re Tyre” project, with the latest decision from Brussels on the future of the scheme to follow in the next month or two.
Harmonic Energy Inc. has identified Italmatic as the preferred tyre manufacturing equipment supplier for all of its facilities. The company reports that it came to this decision after reviewing the top equipment suppliers for tyre manufacturing. Harmonic has identified Italmatic Tyre, which is based in Italy, as the premier choice for highest quality and safety for production of what it calls re-new automotive tyres.
It’s now more than two years since the Kal Tire Mining Tire Group acquired a majority shareholding in Derbyshire-based OTR Tyres, and the company says retreading at its Alfreton facility shows that despite increasing raw material costs and a major shortage of good, retreadable casings, demand for a quality product still exists. In the past 12 months Kal Tire’s UK retreading plant utilised in excess of 1.3 million pounds (590,000 kilogrammes) of rubber compound in the retreading of more than 3,000 off-road tyres.
Tomorrow’s tyre industry is not only shaped by external influences such as legislation and growing environmental awareness; the tyres we will drive on in future are today’s breakthrough developments. Each year the most outstanding of the previous 12 months’ crop of innovations are acknowledged by the Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence. This year’s awards ceremony was held on the evening of 15 February in connection with the Cologne, Germany-based Tire Technology Expo. Five winners were chosen by the 21-member industry panel – Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear, Rhein Chemie and Environmental Waste International.
Johnson Controls Batteries has appointed Mike Hall as managing director to develop new market share growth strategies in the UK and Irish aftermarket. Prior to his new appointment, he was Sales Director for Europe and Africa within the Building Efficiency Division of Johnson Controls.
The Tyre Industry Federation (TIF), the trade body representing the tyre manufacturers, importers, distributors and retreaders in the UK has published a new factbook. TIF’s latest publication gives an overview of the tyre industry from manufacture to recycling and from road safety to lifecycle impact complete with some of the most detailed official statistics agreed by a British association.
The Bandvulc Group reports that Cherwell District Council has followed its neighbour Oxford City’s example and entered into a new tyre agreement with the company, which will be managed by Bandvulc Tyre Contracts. This contract covers more than 70 pieces of equipment including 18 refuse and recycling vehicles; these will operate on Bandvulc’s Wastemaster products, a tyre Bandvulc says was specifically developed for the waste sector and is designed to resist kerb scrubbing. Other vehicles in the Cherwell fleet vehicles will also adopt products from the Bandvulc range.
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