Key notes: 3 ways the potential of retreading shines

GREENVILLE, S.C.—There's a space between manufacturing sustainable tires and recycling sustainable tires.

There's reusing sustainable tires. Specifically, there is retreading them.

Sometimes the industry forgets that, David Stevens, managing director of the Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau, said on the final day of the Clemson University Global Industry Tire Conference in Greenville.

Tire makers, he said, sometimes forget to design tires that can be retreaded, and they forget to promote the sustainability aspects of retreading their tires.

"Some companies are doing it," Stevens said. "But there are other companies that talk about sustainability—and it is a key component of what they do—and they talk about all the acquisition of sustainable materials, so it is all about what goes into the tire itself. But then they skip over retreading, and they go right to recycling."

Stevens contends that retreads are one of the most reliable sustainability methods the tire industry has. And it has proven that again and again.

"Here is the crux of it: Retreading is all about sustainability and it always has been," Stevens said. "I mean, it is just starting to come to the fore for the tire industry itself and for end-users of these products."

Here's a look at three ways the retreading industry is showing its potential.

Tire sustainability starts somewhere. For manufacturers, it starts with sustainable and sustainably sourced materials. It starts with operations and supply chains.

But for Stevens and the retreading industry, it starts somewhere else.

"For me—and the (retread) industry—it starts with the casing," Stevens said.

That casing—a good, quality casing that is designed to be retreaded multiple times—has great value, he said. For the planet, yes, but for the consumer, too.

"About 70 percent of the value of the tire is in the casing itself," Stevens said. "If you reuse that casing, most of the investment you have already made."

And this, he contends, is why it is critical for every manufacturer in the tire industry to focus its efforts on rolling out the kinds of tires that are suited for retreading.

"If you manufacture a tire that is not designed to be retreaded, what a waste," Stevens said.

"Thankfully, most of the new tire manufacturers are specifically engineering casings to be retreaded multiple times. You see it in the warranties and guarantees that they offer. It is like—pick your manufacturer—they are guaranteeing three or more retreads for the life of the tire they are selling to their customer."

If the supply chain snarls of the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, it's the value of "local-to-local."

Turns out, the retreading industry knows a thing or two about the value of the shorter supply chains because it has been the industry model for … well, forever.

And that matters quite a bit.

During the pandemic, "we (were) able to deliver to customers," Stevens said. "And very early on, the retreading industry was defined by the government as a critical industry, so we were able to keep operating during the very early stages of the pandemic."

And the real strength of that model was demonstrated through the industry's ability to meet customer needs in ways that new product makers overseas simply could not. So some turned to retreads.

What they found, he said, was quality, reliability and cost savings.

"Supply chain issues really impacted the supply chain industry. … And in some ways it really benefited the retread industry over the last couple of years because it constrained supplies of new tires that are coming into the U.S. market," Stevens said.

That last-mile delivery space is a fascinating one. Because there is so much happening in that sphere when it comes to technology adoption and product innovation.

Take the vehicles themselves, which are prime for implementing electric and autonomous technologies. They're also fantastic places for the tire industry to test its newest innovations, including nonpneumatic tires.

But the continued rise of the last-mile delivery space also creates great opportunities for tried and true technologies—pneumatic tires for one. Retreads for another.

And in the case of retreads, Stevens said, there is significant cost savings—and sustainability benefits—to be gained.

"I am sure this is a big growth area for the tire companies themselves, and it is also a potential growth industry for the retread industry," Stevens said. "These Amazon drivers—these local delivery drivers—they are just going through tires like they never have before and some of them are realizing that is becoming one of their biggest expenses and retreading could be a potential solution for them."