The first week of October was a great one for our industry and one that our organization looks forward to for the learning and sharing that occurs.  It started with a gathering of all the tire recycling agencies in Canada at the CATRA AGM in Niagara Falls, Ontario, where our team was able to learn from other organizations to understand challenges and hear about accomplishments taking place across the country, such as Alberta recycling its 100 millionth tire (something OTS can look forward to in the year ahead), and share OTS’ new insights into crumb rubber production rates from OTR tire processing and the way new passenger and light truck tire profiles are impacting overall tire weights.

This was followed by the Tire & Rubber Association of Canada’s bi-annual Recycled Rubber Symposium, an international gathering that brings together a wide range of stakeholders to encourage discussion and foster innovation within the industry. The symposium included presentations from around the globe that touched on areas such as driving the circular economy, legislative comparisons, and industrial applications of rubber devulcanization.

Some of the presentation highlights include:

• An experimental house built by Red River College which allows for consistent comparison of traditional infill with recycled rubber infill. The early results show great benefits surrounding moisture, heat, and cooling – This is a project to watch!
• Research being conducted by Ecopneus out of Italy that is looking at the impact of environmental factors, such as pollution, on crumb rubber applications and the potential health effects.
• New plant life that Bridgestone is currently investigating for the creation of a more sustainable tire. In 2015 they created the first tire made out of the Guayule plant!
• The interesting work that Titan Tire Reclamation is doing to find ways to recycle mining tires in Fort McMurray.

One of the most positive aspects of the week’s learnings was to see the increased use of recycled rubber for high value products across Canada.

We were also excited to see several organizations that work with OTS actively participating in the conversation on the future of our industry including Tyromer, North West Rubber and Nexxsource Recycling, Bridgestone, Goodyear, New Rubber Technologies, Emterra, Crumb Rubber Manufacturers, Liberty Tire and Moose Creek Tire Recycling.

Given the amount of research taking place within the industry and dedicated organizations involved, there is promise of an interesting year ahead!