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INDUSTRY
REPORT - SUSTAINABILITY
The Vaculug retread plant in Grantham
ESG driven. But they only seem to place, often superficial, focus on the environment, whilst paying little attention to the ‘Social’ or ‘Governance’ aspects, which in my mind are equally important.
Because sustainability is about much more than good inten- tions, PR gimmicks and so-called ‘green’ policies that often aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. It’s about crea- ting an ethical and practical business framework that leads to tangible, measurable results, and sharing those successes with the wider community.
This is why we wanted to ‘put our money where our mou- th is’ so to speak and shine a spotlight on the social aspect of ESG. So, as part of Vaculug’s sustainability strategy, as well as donating 10% of our profits to charity, for every tyre sold, we also donate £1 to the Oneness Education Initiative, which helps to provide educational opportunities for chil- dren in developing countries.
As a father and a global citizen, I believe it’s our collective responsibility to address socio-economic inequalities and help protect the planet for the future generations. But we need to strike a delicate balance because sustainable living needs to be accessible, and most importantly, affordable to all. Because if we continue to drive up the cost of living to the point that people can no longer afford the most basic of amenities, all in the name of protecting the environment, we might end up with clean air and a thriving planet — with no human left alive to enjoy it!
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People often think of tyre manufacturing as being an energy and resource-intensive industry — is that true of retreading?
“The problem is that a lot of ‘creative accounting’ goes on in the carbon world to make it look like real action is being taken and progress is
being made, when the reality is often anything but. And the biggest culprit of this is, without a doubt, the United Kingdom.”
Back in 2022, when Vaculug was hosting Rishi Sunak’s launch campaign to be the next UK prime minister, we were discussing this very subject. And I explained that this was the primary reason why I chose to invest in retreading, be- cause although it is labour, energy and resource intensive, it’s also one of the few industries that’s genuinely sustaina- ble. And the reasons why are threefold.
Firstly, our product is cheaper than a new tyre, as any sus- tainable product should be — when an old product is being reused, those savings should be passed on to the consumer. And there is zero reliance on government subsidies, as in the case of electric cars that actually turn out to be more expensive than regular cars.
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