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NEWS
Solstor Looks to Vacu-Lug for Carbon Reduction
Leszek Szafran Appointed
Goodyear Dunlop Europe
Retread Director
Crayford, Kent-based UK and international supply chain specialist, Solstor UK Limited has reported an overall reduction to date of almost 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions since moving to a Vacu-Lug new and remould tyre policy for its tractor unit fleet and from a new-only policy to a Vacu-Lug remould policy on its trailer
This compound has a lower rolling resistance than regular tyres and therefore contributes further towards carbon reduction.
The green tyres have been manufactured using a specially- formulated compound which replaces the traditional carbon black with a mix of silicas, resulting in a low-
rolling resistance product which provides operational and environmental benefits. Independent trials conducted by TARCC (Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre, the UK- based research arm of the Malaysian Rubber Board) have proven the tyres to be more environmentally- efficient in a number of ways:
• Thesilica-basedcompoundis harder and tougher than a standard tyre, meaning there is less deformation in the crown area, which significantly improves the tyres' rolling resistance by up to 30 percent.
The tread surface of the high-silica compound is harder and microscopically rougher than regular carbon black-based compound and, as a result, increases surface grip.
• Lessmovementinthetreadmeans there is less heat build-up,
thereby prolonging tyre life.
• Thehardercompoundtheoretically improves the wear characteristics of the tyre over a period of time.
• Thesilica-basedcompoundshows a much improved snow and ice behaviour and better wet skid properties, with abrasion remaining constant.
Solstor UK Limited is part of the AG Thames Group. In addition to its Crayford Head Office site, the company has depots in Peterborough, and Boston, as well as operations in Spain, Italy and Poland providing a true pan-European, end-to-end solution. The firm's double-shifted
fleet of 80 tractor units and 160 trailers is involved in the distribution of fresh and chilled produce to many leading UK supermarket retailers.
Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe has appointed Leszek Szafran as Director Retread Operations Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He will take over the position from Hubert Moquet, who retires after more than 34 years’ service with the company.
Szafran will be responsible for the company’s retread operations across the EMEA region. He will partner the field organisation to offer innovative retread solutions.
“One of my key objectives is to make retread an integral and competitive part of the complete tyre management package we offer to benefit our end-users, in particular fleet operators, as well as our trade customers.” said Szafran. The new retread director, a native of Poland, joined the company in 1995 as Business Analyst. He progressed through several posts before becoming Sales Director Truck Tyres in 2002 and then in 2006 Sales Director Consumer and Commercial Tyres for Goodyear Dunlop Tires Poland. In 2010, he moved to South Africa as General Manager of Goodyear South Africa (Pty) Ltd. The following year Szafran returned to Europe, becoming Sales and Marketing Director, EMEA. In his new role he will report to George Rietbergen, Vice-President of Goodyear Dunlop’s Commercial Product Business Unit EMEA.
“The importance of retreading within our product and service offering for commercial customers has increased significantly. I am pleased that Leszek has accepted this role since he has gained vast experience in the commercial business in various roles across the region. We thank Hubert Moquet for his 34 years of dedicated service and wish him all the best for his retirement.” said Rietbergen.
Hubert Moquet, who retires in March, led the company’s retread operations for three years. He joined Goodyear in 1978 from the truck industry, as a truck tyre salesman.
fleet last May. "Solstorisfirmlycommittedto reducing its impact upon the environment, and we recognise the contribution being made in this respect to our operations by Vacu- Lug," says Andy Hitchings, Operations Director for Solstor UK Limited. "Furthermore, in addition to benefiting the environment, the switch in our tyre policy is also proving financially successful while operational service levels are unaffected."
Since embarking upon its new tyre policies, more than 350 Vacu-Lug Duramold super-single tyres have been fitted to the Solstor trailer fleet, representing a saving of 54.2 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions per tyre. This figure equates to the reduced amount of carbon dioxide emitted during the remould manufacturing process compared to that of a new tyre.
To emphasise the environmental benefits of its new tyre policies, a proportion of the Vacu-Lug Duramold remould tyres fitted to the Solstor fleet is made from a green coloured compound developed by Vacu-Lug.
Having worked in fleet and government sales, Moquet started in Original Equipment sales in France, before becoming Director of Truck Tyre Operations there. In 1999 he took responsibility for truck tyre replacement sales in Europe. Then in 2002, he created the OE truck tyres operation. Returning to France in 2007, Moquet took charge of the commercial business, which included Truck, Farm and OTR product groups. For his last assignment, he became Director of Retread Operations EMEA in 2010. Goodyear Dunlop offers an extensive range of retread products to ensure the prolonged life of its new tyres. These include the Goodyear TreadMax and Dunlop MultiTread mould cure ranges, which closely replicate the latest premium tyres from both brands, as well as NextTread mould cure and precure products, which further cover a vast range of applications and sizes. The main truck tyre retreading plants are at Riom in France, Wittlich in Germany and Wolverhampton in the UK. In addition to these are many local Goodyear Dunlop supported retreading partners across the region, where tyres are retreaded to the same high standards.
Pt Pamapersada Celebrates 5 Years of Successful Retreading
It was five years ago that Indonesia’s leading contract mining company PT Pamapersada Nusantara (PAMA) decided to install a turn-key OTR retread facility from Rösler in Balikpapan. From the first day Rösler was involved in the project, providing all the needed support to bring the project to realisation.
Rösler engineered and designed the entire factor y, supplied the equipment and transferred the know-how. In total over 200 tons of equipment were shipped from Germany to the island of Borneo where in Februar y 2008 the first 27.00R49 tyre was retreaded.
PAMA has proved to be a global
4 Retreading Business