LANCASTER, Pa. — Dodge-Regupol Inc., a longtime tire recycling and flooring product manufacturing firm, has changed its name to Ecore International.
The name change, effective Jan. 3, reflects the company´s expanding geographic and strategic focus, according to Arthur Dodge III, Ecore president and CEO.
"Fundamentally, we plan to grow on both those fronts," Dodge said. "The demand is growing for building materials globally, and our products are being specified by American architects worldwide."
Among the projects for which Ecore products are being specified is the Burj Dubai Tower, planned to be the tallest building in the world at a height of 2,000 feet. Architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill are using Ecore´s QT sound control underlay in applications throughout the tower, including under stone flooring in hallways and bathrooms; under ceramic tiles and hardwood in the tower´s condominiums; and under vinyl storing in the Armani Hotel planned for part of the tower.
The Burj Dubai Tower is scheduled for completion in 2009, according to Ecore.
The company´s products also are being specified for further projects in Asia, Africa, the U.S. and elsewhere, Dodge said.
Ecore began life more than 100 years ago as Dodge Cork Co., founded by the great-grandfather of Arthur Dodge III. The firm became Dodge-Regupol in 1989 through a partnership with Bad Berleberg, Germany-based Berleburger Schaumstoffwerk GmbH. In November 2007, BSW and Dodge-Regupol made a mutual agreement to end the partnership to pursue their separate business strategies, Ecore said.
Ecore claims to be the largest user of scrap tire rubber in North America. Each year the company uses some 80 million pounds of recycled rubber, equivalent to 2,000 trailer loads, and saves the environment about 1 million gallons of oil annually, according to an Ecore spokeswoman.
Besides QT sound control products, Ecore manufactures and sells such products as Everlast performance flooring, Transmat load securing materials, PuzzleTire home gym flooring, PaveSafe equine track pavement and PlayGuard playground safety surfacing.
In addition, Ecore subsidiaries A-Turf, SurfaceAmerica and SpectraTurf are leaders in the playground surfacing, gym flooring, fitness flooring, specialty surfacing and artificial turf markets, Ecore said.
In a fall 2007 survey by Floor Focus magazine, designers and architects from across the U.S. gave Ecore´s ECOsurfaces Top Ten ratings for service, design, green manufacturing and overall satisfaction, Ecore said.
Ecore is one of the athletic surfacing companies that partners with athletic shoe manufacturer Nike Inc. in its "Nike Grind" program, according to Ecore. Nike collects used athletic shoes, Nike or not, at its stores and other collection points across the U.S. It grinds these and factory scrap into "Nike Grind," which surfacing manufacturers use to make tennis and basketball courts, running tracks, athletic fields and playgrounds.
Ecore´s proprietary process, which combines Nike Grind with other recycled polymers, creates rubber matting and flooring used in Nike stores across the U.S., Ecore said.
The company´s Lancaster plant employs about 240.