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AZUR NETWORK WINS EUROPEAN TRANSPORT AWARD FOR SUSTAINABILITY The AZuR Network has won the Euro- pean Transport Award for Sustainabili- ty 2024 in the tyres and tyre periphe- rals category. The AZuR study on the positive ecological balance of retrea- ding was honoured by a jury from the specialist magazine Transport – Die Zei- tung für den Güterverkehr. According to the study carried out by Fraunhofer UMSICHT, which was funded by the DBU German Federal Environmental Foundation, retreading saves around two thirds of the raw materials, over 60 percent CO2 emissions and 50 percent energy compared to the production of new tyres. Other award winners include Daimler Truck, Volvo Truck, Iveco Magi- rus and Scania Deutschland. AZuR network coordinator Christina Guth, who accepted the award in Mu- nich with AZuR partner Günter Ihle (CEO of Rigdon), was pleased to have made “an important contribution to the ecological transformation of the transport sector” with the study. From Günter Ihle’s perspective, the award rewards “AZuR’s long-standing commit- ment to the ideal path of a sustainable, climate-friendly tyre circular economy.” LATEST NEWS VMI OPENS NEW THAILAND PLANT On November 30th 2023, VMI officially opened its new facility in Thailand. Mr Harm Voortman, President and CEO of VMI Group, planted a tree symbolising the organisation’s growth and VMI’s commitment to this increasingly important region. The new facility is designed to serve the growing needs of VMI customers in the entire South-East Asian region. The almost 1,500 square metre facility comprises a state-of-the-art workshop and over 200 square metres of office space for support staff and customer training rooms. Services provided to the region include tyre building drum maintenance and overhauls, retrofits and maintenance to existing machines, and housing fully trained commissioning and service engineers. Local customers and VMI staff attended the ceremony. The afternoon comprised an interesting programme of presentations by VMI’s senior management followed by several workshops and demonstrations of VMI Services’ offerings to underline the capabilities of the new facility. PhotoSTORY VIPAL CELEBRATES 15-YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH SPG FROM TUNISIA STE Pneumatiques Ghadhab (SPG), located in Tunisia, North Africa, has been a cru- cial customer of Vipal Europe for 15 years. To recognise this milestone, Vipal recent- ly presented SPG with a commemorative plaque. Vipal Europe’s Commercial Manager, Fabricio Nedeff, and Commercial Represen- tative, Leonardo Müller, presented the tribute to STE Pneumatiques Ghadhab’s import manager, Mrs. Boutheina Bayoudh, and Mr. Zied Bzeouich, from STE’s com- mercial team. SPG partnered with Vipal in 2008 to identify a gap in the tyre repair segment in Nor- th Africa and meet the demand for high-quality products in the region. SPG is the exclusive distributor of Vipal’s repair line in Tunisia. P. 6462