Page 77 - Vaculug Sustainable Report 2022

Our innovative R&D achievements to date include:
• The creation of a fully A-rated tyre (achieved due to the reduction of fuel usage during the production process).
• The Z-Brand tyre - an industry and world first that earned us a Guinness World Record!
• Protekt Plus - sidewall protection improvements with the addition of a groove structure that extends the durability and life of a tyre.
• We have developed a special thermal insulation system which reduces gas consumption by 27% and carbon emissions by 950 tonnes per annum.
• The creation of tyre jackets, which are used for the safe delivery and transportation of our newly produced retreaded tyre.
NEW MATERIALS
Nowadays manufacturing companies give attention to systems that reduce and eventually eliminate waste and manage raw materials scarcity through the continual use of resources. In other words,
the focus is on design by developing tyres for both longevity and optimal performance in terms of sustainability, on continuous innovation to improve production processes by employing
new and/or alternative raw materials which sustainably reducing waste, energy consumption, gas emission, material loss, recovering waste- streams and, where technically possible, replacing materials that may challenge significantly the material recycling of the tyres.
The concept goes through along the whole supply chain, including purchasing of raw materials to the end-of-life of the products. The key is extending product lifetime and closing material loops by implementing sustainable approach with 3Rs concept - Recycle, Reduce and Rethink & Reinvent.
As far as longevity is concerned, the focus is to design and develop tyres in the ways that facilitate repairment and retreading, thus increasing tyre lifetime and reducing environmental impact not compromising tyres performance in terms of safety and efficiency.
Attention has to be put also on the type of materials used in production, therefore focusing on circularity of the materials which means exploring new potential sustainable raw materials, which can be reused and recycled, to replace the actual ones aiming to create fully sustainable products.
With the challenges that currently lie ahead, assessment and innovative concepts would be necessary together with constructive cooperation and development along the whole tyre supply chain in order to foster know-how exchange with professionals. As well as this, developing new innovative strategies with stakeholders will help to align these with market trends and evolution.
In these circumstances, the focus of the strategies is on durability, maintenance, repairability and upgradability, i.e. circularity of the whole process, aiming to increase products longevity in terms of performance and products utilization rate, as well as to improve material recycling and energy recovery, therefore to design and produce fully sustainable products as mentioned, aiming to protect human health and reduce environmental impact.
We are continually researching and testing new materials to create fully sustainable products.
Following this purpose, the Company is introducing new materials in tyres formulations that have lower impact on environment. For example, by using silica obtained from rice husk ash to replace the classic silica produced from quartz sand. Rice husk ash is one of the most common agricultural waste; it is an agricultural waste by product from rice milling in the rice production. Moreover, processes which allow to recover energy by burning this waste have been developed.
Additionally, from purification of ashes obtained,
it is possible to get excellent silica in terms of purity which can be used in the compounds replacing the classic filler materials.
SUSTAINABILITY IN MOTION 2022 77