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INDUSTRY
REPORT - SUSTAINABILITY
Secondly, retreaded tyres aren’t only cheaper, but they also last longer. Retreads reuse up to 85% of the original casing, and use a higher quality rubber, which results in a better product. In fact, most retreaded truck tyres offer a total life expectancy of over 375,000 miles, which is the equivalent of 15 trips around the world!
This is key in creating a truly sustainable product; there can be no compromise on quality. It should be equal to or better than the product you’re trying to replace, without hitting the consumer in the pocket.
And thirdly, it’s genuinely good for the environment. In my retrea- ding factory in Grantham, we renew and reuse everything (within reason) so that very little goes to waste. By using the original ca- sing, this saves 30 kg of rubber, up to 20 kg of steel and 60 kg of CO2. In fact, every single tyre that we tread in our factory saves 76 litres of oil. Times that by 250,000 tyre casings, and that’s millions of litres of oil and CO2 emissions saved by just one factory alone!
RB
Those numbers are certainly impressive! Are avoided emissions taken into account by industry regulators?
HK
Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding ‘no’, which is, I must con- fess, a personal bugbear of mine. Because I know just how impor-
tant the retreading industry is in our collective journey towards a more sustainable future.
For example, in 2022 alone, my factory recycled 6,760 ton- nes of waste tyres and achieved an overall emissions saving of 17,097 tonnes compared with using virgin materials.
Now just imagine if my factory didn’t exist. New tyres would be needed to replace the millions of retreaded tyres already in circula- tion round the country, with each new tyre producing significantly higher levels of CO2 emissions during the manufacturing process. As we’ve already established, these new higher carbon-emitting tyres also have a shorter life span than retreads, all of which the consumer has the privilege of paying extra for!
So, I strongly feel that the retreading industry should be given due credit for the positive impact that such a substantial level of avoi- ded emissions must undoubtedly have on the environment. And moving forward, I think this should be factored into all standardi- sed CO2 reporting frameworks.
RB
Vaculug recently launched the first sustainability report in its 72-year history, which some would argue is a risky move given the high stan- dards you’ve set yourself, including the company’s pledge to become carbon neutral by 2030 — what inspired this decision?
HK
The problem is that a lot of ‘creative accounting’ goes on in the car- bon world to make it look like real action is being taken and pro- gress is being made, when the reality is often anything but. And the biggest culprit of this is, without a doubt, the United Kingdom.
Instead of fixing the problem, the UK uses creative accounting to obscure its own environmental failings, simply by transferring the cost to another country’s carbon balance sheet.
Take for example, the plan to shut down North Sea oil. In theory, it might seem like a good idea, but the problem is that we still rely on oil for a vast range of products that are essential to modern life. Because whilst we might be able to make things more efficiently, we can’t simply make them out of thin air! And so, whether we like it or not, oil will be needed to some extent or another for the fore- seeable future.
The question is where is it going to come from? Of course, we’ll just ship it from the USA or Qatar. But don’t these ships run on diesel, and won’t this create more emissions? Well, no matter, because it won’t affect our carbon balance sheet! The UK’s carbon emission numbers will still come down, when in reality we’ll end up using just as much oil, if not more, than before.
So, I think accountability is essential, and the first step to being accountable is transparency. It’s clear that more needs to be done to fight the climate crisis, and we are proud to be the first retreader in the UK to make such a positive commitment. We can only hope that it will inspire others to join us on our journey to net zero.
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