TRAC names winners of 2023 Industry Leadership Awards

CAMBRIDGE, Ontario—The Tire and Rubber Association of Canada named its 2023 Industry Leadership Awards recipients at its annual gala June 14.

The awards "recognize outstanding individuals and businesses for their dedication and commitment to excellence in the tire and rubber industry including end-of-life tire management and other businesses focused on sustainability," according to TRAC. Awards are given in these categories: Leader of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, Sustainability and Young Leader.

"The Canadian tire and rubber industries as well as ELT management businesses are filled with talent, experience and history, and our 2023 winners prove it," TRAC President and CEO Carol Hochu said. "We are pleased to celebrate nine individuals and companies who have demonstrated leadership and excellence, and whose contribution to the tire and rubber industry in the areas of business, innovation and sustainability had been simply outstanding."

Winners are:

Leader of the Year: Barry Takallou, president and CEO of CRM.

Takallou was instrumental in the development of rubber modified asphalt, one of the most sustainable circular markets for scrap tires, TRAC said.

Takallou has authored several technical papers and serves on the boards of several technical and trade societies. In the past 25 years, he has grown his company, CRM, to include 10 tire recycling plants—three in Canada and seven in the U.S. CRM recycles more than 40 million scrap tires annually into highway construction materials, synthetic turf fields and rubber molded products. CRM is the largest cryogenic crumb rubber manufacturing company in North America and "sets the standard for diverting scrap tires from landfills and recycling them into higher-valued sustainable markets," TRAC said.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Doran Moore, Firestone and the Rubber Association of Canada (RAC, now TRAC); Adrian Courtenay, Bridgestone; Manuel Estragadinho, Pliteq

Moore joined Firestone Canada in 1945, rising from a sales position to become president and CEO in 1969.

Moore is also a key figure in TRAC's history: In 1979, when Goodyear left RAC and put the organization into a "potential existential crisis," the RAC board called on then-retired Doran to save the organization. The following years saw many overtures by Moore and the association to Goodyear and Michelin. In 1982, Goodyear rejoined the association alongside Michelin, Bridgestone and Yokohama.

Courtenay recently retired from Bridgestone after 44 years. He held several positions at the company including vice president of sales Western Canada, fleet/OE manager and regional general manager.

Since 2008, Courtenay has served as a director on the board of Tire Stewardship B.C. (TSBC) representing TRAC. He also represents TSBC with the B.C. Trucking Association. "Adrian is very well respected by his fellow directors, staff, program stakeholders and the industry at large," TRAC said.

Estragadinho started working at National Rubber in Toronto after immigrating to Canada. It started his "long career of conceptualizing, sketching, detailing, fabricating and commissioning ideas for processing recycled rubber, which he continues to do to this day at Pliteq," TRAC said.

"Estragadinho has possibly worked on thousands of different recycled rubber applications and has single-handedly innovated and developed full production lines across North America which have diverted millions of tons of scrap rubber from landfills," the association said.

Sustainability: Stevyn Arnt, Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan (TSS); Halifax C&D Recycling Ltd. (HCD)

The Sustainability award honors environmental, economic and social contributions.

Arnt, who's been CEO of TSS for three years, "has brought new approaches to the Saskatchewan tire program, cleaning up legacy stockpiles and advancing the program toward value-added recycling," TRAC said.

Notable accomplishments include clearing two stockpiles of legacy scrap tires (over 20,000 metric tons combined); establishing a plan to eliminate legacy tire issues with a goal of eliminating all known legacy tires within the next 3 to 5 years; and increasing tire recovery rate from approximately 70 percent to 79 percent.

"HCD is a leader in providing long-term, environmentally sustainable and economically viable alternatives and solutions for used tires in Nova Scotia," TRAC said.

HCD, in partnership with Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, has developed several sustainable applications for tire derived aggregate (TDA) in various engineering projects. The company also has invested in infrastructure, land, equipment, and research and development, to provide services to Nova Scotia's Resource Recovery Fund Board and Newfoundland's Multi-Materials Stewardship Board.

The company recently expanded operations into Newfoundland with Coastal Tire Recycling.

Young Leader: Ankita Saikia, Tyromer Inc.; David Pulla, Dynamic Tires; Josh Havin, Pliteq

The Young Leader award "recognizes inspirational and dedicated young leaders who demonstrate industry leadership in management, innovation, technology and/or sustainability within their organization or community," TRAC said.

Saikia joined rubber recycler Tyromer Inc. as a research engineer and quickly rose to the role of vice president of technical and quality. Saikia now both managing technical improvements for the research and development as well as quality arms of the organization. She led Tyromer's Waterloo, Ontario, facility to ISO 9001:2015 re-certification and its new Windsor, Ontario, facility to its initial ISO certification.

In his 14 years at Dynamic Tires, Pulla has made "remarkable contributions and implemented many initiatives that have significantly improved the company's profitability and brand awareness in the marketplace. He offers a wealth of knowledge combined with generosity of a leader who always goes above and beyond when it comes to serving his clients. As such, he's built strong relationships with key stakeholders, including suppliers, distributors, and customers, which has helped him to expand and achieve greater professional success," TRAC said.

Havin has been a "has been a driving force and a leader in Pliteq's development and growth. He is passionate a vocal advocate for sustainability, and as such he is committed to reducing Pliteq's environmental impact," TRAC said, calling him a "talented, dedicated, and passionate leader, exceptional engineer, great mentor and a champion of sustainability."