USTMA: Sustainability a unifying factor for 2022 priorities

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association has a busy agenda for 2022 with seven core initiatives for the year, all of which can be viewed within the context of sustainability.

And while Washington-based USTMA does much of its work on Capitol Hill, the association also will be actively focusing on a variety of state and global issues, collaborating with similar groups in Europe and Japan on topics of mutual interest, according to Anne Forristall Luke, USTMA president and CEO.

Of course, the political climate in Washington makes life more difficult on everyone, and also helps dictate what topics the association will focus on and what is the best way to make headway.

"It makes it harder on everybody. Not just the tire industry, but business and society in general," Luke told Rubber News. "When our leaders have such difficulty working together to advance solutions, that impacts all of us."

The USTMA, which represents 12 tire companies that manufacture tires in the U.S., has plans to work on its seven core initiatives for 2022 and beyond. And looking at it from a sustainability framework doesn't mean just looking at them from an environmental perspective, Luke said, but through environmental stewardship, economic value and social impact.

At the top of the list are tire materials and the sustainability of tire materials, a subject that has been a topic of research within industry for sometime. Some of the work here, she said, will focus on tire road wear particles, the impact of a byproduct of the antioxidant 6ppd, and zinc, which has been getting attention recently in California.
The USTMA expects to work with a wide range of collaborators on tire materials.

"There is interest there among the academic scientific community, among the regulatory community and among the tire manufacturers and non-governmental organizations focused on making the safest tire that is also the most environmentally responsible tire," Luke said.

Scrap tires, which the organization has been working on going back about three decades, will be another area of continued analysis. The goal is to grow the scrap tire market to provide stable infrastructure solutions. In recent years, one of the challenges the USTMA has faced is that the generation of scrap tires has outpaced the development of new sustainable markets, she said. As such, the association will work with other stakeholders—such as the Tire Industry Association—to reverse that trend.

"We see potential for major investment in surface transportation infrastructure that provides a lot of opportunities to address several of those sustainable issues simultaneously," Luke said. That will include pushing for more widespread use of rubber-modified asphalt to help modernize highways, making them more durable and resistant.

Climate change is another core initiative of the association, and an area where the gridlock in Washington will "increase the pressure on the (Biden) administration—even if it's self-applied pressure—to move its climate agenda through the regulatory agencies."

The USTMA is focused on working through agencies such as the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Commerce to ensure that the energy efficiency advancements developed by tire makers are part of the solution.

"We definitely see climate (change) as an opportunity for tire manufacturers because we have spent a lot on R&D to make our tires as energy-efficient as possible," Luke said. "With increased rolling resistance, we've reduced greenhouse gases significantly."

Retreaded tires also can play a role here, she added, because they significantly decrease energy consumption, carbon footprints and raw material usage.

Also included on the list of USTMA priorities are connected vehicles. The association sees opportunities for partnership with both auto manufacturers as well as other key players in the tech space.

Increasing stakeholder and partner engagement is a key area of focus championed by Paolo Ferrari, Bridgestone Americas Inc. president and CEO, who also serves as chair of the USTMA. Luke said Ferrari wants to see growth in the concept of partnerships and creation of platforms to allow multiple stakeholders and partners to focus on industry challenges that affect society and impact the industry as a whole.

"We're looking for ways to come together in a collaborative way among ourselves and other partners to drive solutions to some of these big industry societal challenges," she said.

Rounding out the seven core initiatives is a continued focus on tire safety, performance and innovation, an area in which Luke said the USTMA has been working with NHTSA for years to advance modern tire performance standards, along with the association's ongoing statistical updates on the tire industry's economic impact.

The USTMA was pleased that the Biden administration was able to pass its infrastructure bill. Now the association will focus on working with stakeholders at the state and federal level to ensure that the provisions passed in the bill achieve their full potential.

However, Luke sees Biden's Build Back Better program taking a back seat until at least sometime in the spring. Given the difficulty in pushing this agenda forward, she sees the administration focusing on other matters, including voting rights, appropriations season and the Feb. 18 deadline to reach an agreement to continue funding the federal government.
When this type of gridlock happens, associations like the USTMA have to look for forums that have the best chance of making progress on certain issues—and that probably will be more on the regulatory rather than the legislative side at this point.

Once legislation is passed and it moves to the regulatory side for implementation, political infighting is removed from the equation, according to the USTMA president.
"Policy is always important, and it's how the regulatory bodies implement the policies where we have a chance to work with them, to be a resource to them," Luke said.

When politics reaches the point it has on the federal level, she said there often is an uptick in activity at the state level that the USTMA must monitor and act on.

"We definitely saw that during the Trump administration, especially on the environmental side, and we could see that again if gridlock continues between the administration and Congress," Luke added.

Tire materials and scrap tires are two areas where this is now occurring. The USTMA is actively involved with a number of key states, including California and New York, where they are considering a renewal of fees that fund the management of their end-of-life tire programs.

"We want to make sure that the money raised from the sale of those tires goes to scrap tire programs and is not diverted for other uses," she said.

Connecticut also is considering what would be the nation's first extended producer-responsibility approach to its scrap tire management program. The USTMA has been active in talking with legislators about what the best solutions might be with such a framework.

The state of Washington has led the way in looking at the potential impact of 6ppd quinone on the salmon industry in the northwest. "That remains an area of focus for academic researchers, for the state regulators, for the Indian tribes in Washington and the Pacific Northwest, and for tire manufacturers globally," Luke said.

This is one of a growing number of areas where the USTMA collaborates with sister organizations such as the European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers Association, the Japan Automobile Tyre Manufacturers Association and the Tire Industry Project.
California also remains very active in the regulatory process. Its Department of Toxic Substances Control is looking at 6ppd and potentially zinc, and tire makers may be required to conduct an alternative analysis to look at whether alternatives are safe, effective and feasible, Luke said.

Given the great rebound with tire demand in 2021, the USTMA is bullish on 2022. The association's president said there is a lot of momentum in the industry, a lot of demand and a focus on innovation and new products and business models.

But the USTMA and its members also realize there are some headwinds that need to be dealt with.

"The supply chain is a concern," Luke said. "We saw a lot of problems with that last year. I think it will take another while for that to be unraveled."

Continuing problems on attracting, training and retaining a modern work force are likely to continue in the coming year. The USTMA works closely with the National Association of Manufacturers and its Council of Manufacturing Associations on common issues such as this.

"And that issue of work force development is way too big for any one sector to handle on its own," Luke said.

But even with those obstacles, she said the USTMA is excited about what 2022 and the coming years will bring.

"There are a number of tremendous challenges, but even more opportunities," she said. "And we see great potential for partnership and collaboration among our members—in a compliant way—and with key stakeholders and partners to work together on solutions to challenges that we face as a society."