Page 29 - Vaculug Sustainable Report 2022

By taking old tyres and making them like new,
the practice of retreading is circular and comes with many environmental and economic upsides – benefiting people and planet alike.
As a company that operates on a circular business model, we strive to consider the impact our business has on people and the planet at the beginning, rather than at the end, of any given process.
We do this by applying sustainable thinking to our R&D and production processes, as well as our fleet management systems and processes.
Thinking about the quality and safety of materials we use to make a tyre, for instance, or how those materials can be recycled or repurposed are all factors we consider as part of our operations.
As we continue our journey, we will look to expand our approach and identify more areas of where circular practices can be implemented, across
our organisation as well as our value chain.
enViRonMentaL benefits
Retreading extends the life cycle of used tyres, giving tyres a second and third lease on life. The practice of retreading also prevents tyres from ending up in landfill sites, or on the sides of urban and rural streets.
Tyres that have reached the end of their safe usage at our manufacturing facility are sent to our recycling supplier, Murfitts Industries. Murfitts processes
the used tyres into rubber crumbs which are then used to make products such as rubber mats for playgrounds.
Between our retreading and recycling efforts, we are proudly committed
to being a zero-landfill business.
According to the British Tyre Manufacturing Association, each time a truck or bus tyre is retreaded, approximately 30kg of rubber, up to 20kg of steel and 60kgs of CO2 are saved in the process6.
Considering that in 2022 alone Vaculug processed 244,442 tyres - the amount of rubber, steel, and CO2 the company saved is significant.
Furthermore, Vaculug’s premium retreaded truck tyres offer a total life expectancy
of over 375,000 miles – the equivalent
of 15 trips around the world7.
As part of our collective efforts to reduce carbon emissions, we believe the retreading industry should be given credit for the carbon emissions that are avoided altogether.
Avoided emissions refers to the positive impact
of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, relative to
the situation where a product or service does not exist8. In the case of the retreading industry, every retreaded tyre that goes back into circulation takes the place of a new higher-carbon emitting tyre.
6Source: https://btmauk.com/retreading/, accessed January 2023.
7Source: https://btmauk.com/retreading/, accessed January 2023.
8Source: https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/standards/18 WPComparative-Emissions_final.pdf, accessed January 2023.
SUSTAINABILITY IN MOTION 2022 29