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LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN THE RETREADING SECTOR
RECIRCLE AWARDS 2021
Hans-Jürgen Drechsler
Hans-Jürgen Drechsler, the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award for the Tyre Retreading Sector in the inaugural Recircle Awards, dedicated over twenty-five years of his career to the retreading industry, providing
invaluable services to the sector, particularly in the area of technical regulations at a European level including the development of the ECE 108
and 109 regulations.
After studying in Berlin, the graduate economist, who was born near Dresden
in Germany, began his professional career at the East German tyre manufacturer Pneumant, where he held various management positions, most
recently as managing director of Pneumant Reifen- und Gummiwerke GmbH, which was privatised after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
In 1994 he moved to the German trade association Bundesverband Reifenhandel und Vulkaniseur-Handwerk (BRV), initially assuming responsibility for the national
and international representation of interests in the technical and regulatory area as deputy managing director. In 2005 he was appointed BRV managing director by the
association's board of directors. In addition to providing technical and regulatory advice to association members, Drechsler was responsible for market research on the
tyre industry, was chairman of the BRV arbitration board and acted as Technical Secretary of the European retreading association BIPAVER for many years.
During this period, he worked closely with BIPAVER General Secretary Ruud Spuijbroek, who describes him as “a true professional,” and “a man with a mission.” He worked with
Spuijbroek as well as other technical experts such as Lennart Lindström and Michael Schwämmlein on a variety of regulatory projects, acting as a liaison between the industry
and with regulatory bodies in Brussels and Geneva.
Following his retirement in 2020 he assumed a new role as chairman of the supervisory
board of KRAIBURG Austria GmbH & Co. KG.
“I believe at the moment that the prospects for retreading overall are very good. Everyone’s talking at the moment about the Circular Economy, about sustainability, about reducing CO2 emissions about resource conservation, etc., and I’ve always been 100% convinced that retreading in particular is a shining example
of how such things can be achieved.”
– Hans-Jürgen Drechsler
Recircle Awards 2021
XXXIII