After almost two years since the automotive giant Michelin has acquired Lehigh, a company specializing in recycled tire-derived micronized rubber powder (MRP) production, the majority of the its customers are still happy with the service, Kedar Murthy, vice president of Lehigh, said while giving a speech at the Tire Technology Expo 2019 last month.

Following the acquisition, Lehigh preserved its name and it managed to keep trust of its customers, says Murthy. Commenting on customers, he said that the company’s business is global as it is currently selling its products to 18 countries, and the clients are seven out of ten leading international tire firms. According to him, 90 percent of all clients are content with everything Lehigh has to offer. Murphy went on to note that the company keeps on attracting more and more tire businesses.

The vice president’s remarks come after Michelin became Lehigh’s owner in 2017 making the tire recycler part of its Sustainable Mobility Plan that seeks to completely switch to recycling and process 100 percent of the brand’s tires by 2048. Prior to the actual acquisition, the two companies collaborated for almost ten years.

Under Michelin’s ownership, Lehigh started to operate its new Spain-based facility in summer last year – this step assists Michelin’s global expansion as the plant supplies businesses located in Europe.

Even though it has already seen some success in MRP demand and usage, Lehigh and Michelin still consider finding additional applications for the rubber powders, including non-tire ones. One of the technologies that was responsible for the current success of the innovative product is Rheopave, the system that helps customers to apply rubber powder in asphalt development projects preventing MRP from settling to the bottom – this substantially improves the product’s efficiency.

Article by Recycling International.