USTMA: Levers of sustainability, innovation connected

AKRON—The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association's mission is "pretty simple."

"We're here to strengthen the reputation, the societal impact and the competitiveness of the tire industry," said Tracey Norberg, USTMA senior vice president and general counsel, at the International Tire Exhibition & Conference in Akron.

She said the association's initiatives are about helping businesses in the tire industry be successful, "from a business perspective and from a societal perspective."

Norberg, stepping in for USTMA CEO Anne Forristall Luke—who was unable to attend the conference due to an exposure to COVID-19—delivered the keynote address, "At the Intersection of Technology and Politics, Sustainability Finds Its Stride," on the second day of the event Sept. 14.

"Our vision is really to be the advocates, the voice, of the industry. We're here to speak for you, and the main levers that we use to do that are talking about innovation, economic value and sustainability."

And those "levers" are all connected.

Referencing data from the National Association of Manufacturers, Norberg highlighted some of the forces facing the tire industry today. But while the industry is dealing with several major global challenges, there are some wins worth noting.

Rising concerns over a recession and inflation, a tight labor market, Russia's war on Ukraine, continuing supply chain impacts, slowing economic growth with inflation, the Federal Reserve's hikes on interest rates, and cost pressures driven by the prices of raw materials and wage growth, are all putting pressure on the industry.

And specific to the first half of 2022, headwinds also included lower OE production levels and the impact of China's COVID response on the Asia-Pacific economy.

Despite these challenges, however, spending is continuing, and the manufacturing industry has remained "resilient," Norberg said.

And for the first half of 2022, specifically, the industry has seen solid volume growth in the double digits, an increase in revenue per tire, robust volume and share growth in Europe despite geopolitical concerns, strong commercial business and a rebound in tire shipments, Norberg said.

For tire shipments, 2018 was the "high water mark" for the industry, based on a July 2022 forecast by the USTMA's Market Analysis Committee, which included about 289.8 million passenger tires, 42.9 million light truck tires, and 31.2 million truck and bus tires.

Shipments were the lowest they had been in 2020 since 2016, with 241 million passenger, 38.3 million light truck and 23.9 million truck and bus tires.

"But we're edging back toward 2018 (shipments) … as we look toward the end of 2022," Norberg said.

"We are really anticipating being very, very competitive in 2022, surpassing not only '21 and '20, which I think we would all expect, but even surpassing 2019."

Norberg said the tire industry is seeing an increased focus on climate from consumers and policy makers in addition to an increased focus on innovation.

And the two go hand in hand.

"(We're) really focusing on how our products perform, not only from a traditional performance perspective, but also the environmental impacts of our product," Norberg said.

"Sometimes we think about sustainability in terms of this little box of just environment," she added. "And it's not. It's everything.

"It's how we can continue this industry into the future in an economically profitable way, in an environmentally sustainable way and (by) producing safe, high-performing products."

USTMA has six sustainability visions. These visions are improving tire performance and longevity, reducing worker injuries and illnesses to zero, increasing the use of sustainable materials in tire manufacturing, reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout a tire's life cycle, understanding and addressing industry products' impacts throughout that life cycle, and assuring that end-of-life tires enter economically sound and sustainable end-use markets.

And to achieve these sustainability visions, the tire industry needs innovation.

"Why do we care about innovation? It helps the industry be successful, but it improves the product performance and safety, which in turn allows us to make more sustainable products," Norberg said. "It's all connected."

Recent innovations, like silica-based tread to reduce rolling resistance—which then has ancillary effects on vehicle emissions and scrap tire management—or the use of recycled polyester yarn in tires, help make that "sustainability box" bigger, she said.

But the tire industry faces some major challenges in its efforts toward sustainability, she added, noting three key areas—tire materials, non-exhaust emissions/tire and road wear particles, and end-of-life solutions.

"Tire materials are a huge issue," Norberg said, noting specifically the pressures on 6ppd and its transformational product, 6ppd-quinone.

While 6ppd is used in tires as an antioxidant and antiozonant, which helps the tire's durability, "we learned through some scientific research done out of Washington state that this material has some significant challenges when it comes to aquatic toxicity," she said.

But through this challenge, the USTMA saw opportunity.

"We recognized immediately when we learned about these issues that it is important for the tire industry to be a leader," Norberg said.

The USTMA began working with the Department of Toxic Substances Control in California (DTSC) to better understand the issue, "because we want to be able to address this."

Currently, USTMA is working to find a long-term solution, like a potential alternative, for 6ppd by partnering with the DTSC and Washington State Department of Ecology and seeking out critical data gaps.

Alongside this, the association is emphasizing the importance of mitigation strategies.

Because if the tire industry were to hypothetically solve the problem tomorrow, there are still tires on the road with the material "that aren't going to magically go away," Norberg said. "So mitigation has to be part of the solution."

For non-exhaust emissions, or tire and road wear particles (TRWP), Norberg said there is a myriad of issues associated with them, noting that this is partly where the 6ppd issue comes from.

And like the 6ppd issue, the USTMA is working with several stakeholders within the global tire industry, including suppliers, manufacturers, regulators, and academics and researchers to solve this challenge and advocate for mitigation strategies to reduce TRWP.

"This has really been a long-term challenge and opportunity for the industry," she said.

And to address the market development of ELT, the USTMA has partnered with The Ray, a nonprofit in Georgia, and the University of Missouri to produce State of Knowledge reports on rubber-modified asphalts (RMA) and tire-derived aggregate.

RMA uses tire rubber as a polymer modifier in asphalt, which Norberg said has performance benefits in roads. She said the report will be "a great resource to understand how that material can be used successfully to improve our nation's roads."

The tire-derived aggregates, she said, is where tire materials and particles can be used in lieu of traditional road construction materials for projects like road embankments or bridge abutments.

And this lightweight fill and the engineering properties associated with tire rubber can benefit road construction, she added.

While the USTMA represents U.S. manufacturing interests, Norberg said the challenges facing the tire industry, both from a sustainability and economic standpoint, are global issues. And the key to solving global issues is global engagement and collaboration.

"The key with working globally is making sure that we are speaking with one voice as tire manufacturers, including all stakeholders in the discussion, whether they are customers, are suppliers, regulators and NGOs."

The USTMA works toward legislative and regulatory advocacy, but the association needs the voices from all stakeholders in the industry, Norberg said.

"If we don't have those other pieces first, the regulatory and legislative agency is really hindered," she said. "We have to speak as a holistic industry in order to be successful."

And this involves strengthening agency relationships, she added.

"The Biden administration is laser focused on a few issues," Norberg said, noting climate change; diversity, equity and inclusion issues; and infrastructure, "which can be good and bad.

"Sometimes if you're not speaking about those things … you don't get the attention of the administration," she said.

"One of the things that we are working on is, how do we recap some of these topics that we've worked on a long time in the industry? How do we tell those stories differently instead of talking about tire performance? Well, let's talk about it in terms of climate change.

"It's all a continuum," Norberg said, noting tires impact climate. "We just have to change the words."

By adjusting the approach, she said the USTMA has worked with several government agencies, like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation, and has secured legislation to promote activities like RMA and tire-derived aggregate with the Federal Highway Administration.

Currently, she added, the USTMA is promoting retreading commercial tires.

This could include incentives for companies to use retreaded tires instead of the "one and done," lower cost imports.

She said the USTMA and its partners are focusing on not only the value of retreaded commercial tires, but their impact on the climate to break through the legislative pipeline.

"Again, it's recasting how we tell the story to focus on what resonates with policy makers," she said.

The USTMA was "very involved" in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684) enacted Nov. 15, 2021, Norberg said, securing key wins for the industry like stormwater management with RMA; the RMA eligible Emerging Technologies and Healthy Streets program; increased funding for states retrofitting infrastructure to minimize environmental impacts; and greater accountability for the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration on tire-related rulemakings.

These are successes, Norberg said.

And when she looks at what success is to the USTMA, it means the industry and its stakeholders have come together, "to be able to solve the existential challenges, to address these issues in a way that helps the industry be sustainable, that we cement our industry's reputation in that sustainability."