BRUSSELS—The European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers' Association is assisting the rubber industry associations of seven countries in an information campaign on the challenges faced by the general rubber goods industry.
“The GRG industry is fundamental and yet mostly unknown to the general public as well as to policy makers,” said ETRMA Secretary General Fazilet Cinaralp regarding the information campaign. “For this reason, the industry saw the need of publishing information clarifying why rubber is unique, strategic, not replaceable and an enabler for other industries.”
The campaign focuses on the four main challenges faced by the European GRG industry, the ETRMA said.
These include red tape, regulatory tasks, the need of a single market for rubber products in contact with food and drinking water, and the need to bridge the skills gap, the association said.
For each topic, the industry gives an overview of the actions the GRG industry needs from policy makers, as well as actions already taken that need further institutional report, the ETRMA said.
GRG products are essential to the transportation, mining, energy, food, household appliance and leisure industries, according to the fact sheets issued by the ETRMA and the rubber industry associations. The companies involved tend to be small or medium-sized, the fact sheets said, yet GRG production mandates high investments in advanced technologies.
The fact sheets can be found at http://www.etrma.org/uploads/GRG%20Challenges%20final.pdf and http://www.etrma.org/uploads/GRG%20Facts%20and%20Figures%20final.pdf.
The national rubber industry associations involved with the project are those of Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.