Ecore: Going vertical to get circular with acquisition

LANCASTER, Pa.—Ecore International, which uses reclaimed rubber materials as feedstock for entirely new, performance-driven surface products, is demonstrating that vertical integration leads to circularity.

For its second acquisition in 2023, the company on Dec. 6 finalized the purchase of Newville, Pa.-based Ameritread Remanufactured Tires, which has a network of dealers across the country selling certified, refurbished truck tires.

Terms of the Ameritread acquisition were not disclosed.

Ecore purchased 360 Tire Recycling Group, also a leading tire recycling management company, in April 2023.

"Ecore is committed to a fully integrated and seamless circularity platform while minimizing carbon emissions," Debra Lechner, chief marketing officer for Ecore, told Rubber News Dec. 13. "Extending the life of usable tire casings helps to meet these goals in every market.

"Ecore will never allow market conditions to keep us from doing what is best for our customers and for our environment."

Most notably, the purchase secures Ecore's access to vital recycled materials, feedstock for all its own products.

"This acquisition bolsters our access to vital recycled materials and aligns perfectly with our mission to transform waste materials into environmentally responsible, high-performance solutions," said Ecore CEO Art Dodge. "Ameritread's dedication to remanufacturing tires mirrors our commitment to the circular economy, and we will continue to lead the industry in sustainability."

For more than 40 years, Ecore has been transforming rubber waste, "upcycling" in excess of 300 million pounds annually into pour-in-place playground, weight room and athletic facility surfaces, as well as mulched and compacted rubber walking trails.

The company has more than 1,500 products in its portfolio, using both recycled flooring and scrap tires as feedstock.

"This strategic acquisition secures our access to a reliable source of tire scrap from an existing supplier and introduces valuable culling capabilities into our portfolio," said Kal Krishan, president of Ecore's Materials Business Unit, who will oversee the Ameritread addition. "This, in turn, opens doors to revenue enhancement and propels us up the value chain within the circular economy. We are excited about the increased sustainability benefits this acquisition will deliver to our customers."

Ameritread, which also operated as Truck Stop Supply Co. L.L.C., has about 17 employees, who will join the more than 410 that Ecore has at its facilities.

Ameritread "excels in the culling, refurbishing and reselling of used tires, giving them a new lease on life as high-quality, certified reconstructed tires," according to Ecore.

"Culling the tires" means filtering the waste tire stream to segregate tires that meet criteria for a second life, while others are funneled toward a crumb rubber future.

"Ameritread ... revolutionized the used truck tire industry by reconstructing tires using the same strict grading standards Michelin, Bridgestone and others (use) to grade their retreaded tires," Lechner said. "Ameritread offers a 100-percent tread life warranty on every Ameritread tire, giving customers the confidence to purchase a reconstructed tire."

Ecore and Ameritread officials say they "share a commitment to identifying opportunities for synergies and integration that will further contribute to the growth of Ecore's expanding family of companies."

The Ameritread purchase follows Ecore's April acquisition of 360 Tire Recycling Group, and nearly all 80 employees there have transferred to the Ecore 360 division.

All three facilities formerly owned by 360 Tire Recycling Group are part of the acquisition as well, CEO Dodge said following the purchase.

They include production facilities in Caddo Mills and Mexia, Texas, and a recycling facility in Greenville, Texas.

360 Tire Recycling Group has been a provider and recycler in the truck stop and retreading industry since 2009, while building a dedicated expertise in end-of-life tire sourcing and handling.

Now under the Ecore 360 brand, the company focuses on scrap tire rehauling and processing, buffing collection, and casing and used tire sales.

The end goal is to provide customers with a sustainable, circular process for converting reclaimed rubber.

The former 360 Tire Recycling Group brings significant logistics experience and direct logistics knowledge to Ecore, as it owns 630 trailers and more than 30 semi-trucks, covering a 10-state region of the Southeast U.S.

Additionally, the 360 team provides full maintenance for vehicles and related machinery.

Separately, Ecore on Sept. 22 received a $10 million tax credit from UB Community Development L.L.C., a community development partner of United Bank in Ozark, Ala.

The new market credit will allow Ecore to refurbish a 225,000-sq.-ft. brownfield site that eventually will house both recycling and manufacturing operations.

"Recycling is up and running now," Lechner said. "We are installing the flooring production equipment and eventually will have manufacturing there as well."

The Ozark location will source used truck tires from various collection points throughout the surrounding area, then process the tires through the facility as raw material.

Ozark also will be the distribution point for material manufactured there and elsewhere for customers in the Southern portion of the U.S.

Ecore began as a flooring business in 1989.

The overarching company has several playground and turfing surface businesses, and many of its sites—namely in York, Pa.; Ozark, Ala.; and Lancaster—are vertically integrated in that they have a recycling segment and a manufacturing portion.

Flooring—and now truly circular, recycled flooring—remains its bread and butter business.

For this reason, the company launched the TruCircularity program earlier this summer for its customers, allowing them to reduce their CO2 footprints and "close the loop" with flooring products.

Customers contact Ecore to pick up old flooring, which is then recycled directly into new flooring products.

The customer then has their new flooring installed, completing the circularity loop. The new flooring may not be made from what the customer had recycled, as it is more likely a part of the end-of-life rubber recycling stream.

"The program eliminates rubber waste by recycling and reimagining end-of-life rubber flooring," Lechner said. "We are ushering in a new era of environmental responsibility. And we are so excited to be a circular company."