The Canadian Tire and Rubber Association (TRAC) has announced the recipients of its inaugural industry leadership awards for 2022.

The End-of-Life Tyre Management Companies and Other Businesses Focused on Sustainability were recognized by the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada as exceptional individuals and businesses for their devotion and commitment to excellence in the tyre and rubber industry.

On June 14, 2022, at the Alt Hotel Toronto Airport in Mississauga, the Association's Annual General Meeting was immediately followed by the TRAC Awards Ceremony.

Leader of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, Sustainability, and Young Leader were among the categories recognized by the first Industry Leadership Awards.

As a result, it was difficult to choose only one winner in most categories. "To our delight, we got entries from many highly competent industry individuals and companies. For this reason, we decided to honor numerous winners across various categories. We are happy to honor 11 people and organizations this year who have distinguished themselves by leadership and excellence and who have made truly extraordinary contributions to the tire and rubber sector in terms of trade, innovation, and sustainability. President and CEO of TRAC, Carol Hochu, said.

Emmie Leung, the founder of the TRAC member company Emterra Group, received the title of Leader of the Year. Emmie has guided Emterra for more than 45 years, growing it from a one-woman operation to one of Canada's most integrated resource management firms. Emterra has expanded into various divisions as a result of Emmie's capacity to foresee corporate growth and development in the circular economy. Emmie founded Emterra Tire Recycling (ETR) in 2005, and since then, the company has made substantial contributions to the circular economy of tires and grown to be one of Canada's top suppliers of crumb rubber.

Four members received the Lifetime Achievement Award: Don Blythe, Don Campbell, Jim Henderson, and Glenn Maidment in honor of their remarkable contributions to the Canadian tire and rubber business and to society.

For their contributions to the environment, the economy, and society, Tyromer Inc., Maureen Kline, and Kal Tire were recognized by TRAC in the category of sustainability.

Continuous improvement is a value that Kal Tire has long upheld because it recognizes its obligation to both its consumers and the environment. Kal Tire is dedicated to minimizing waste, preserving energy, and creating solutions that allow customers to experience greater environmental benefits, from team behaviors to process operations. The company has been retreading truck tires for many years, and they've gone above and beyond that to develop practices in raw material reclamation and recovery, lifecycle analysis, and other areas. For example, they use the reclaimed material in OTR rubber compounds when retreading, creating their own internal circularity. In northern Chile, Kal Tire launched its first facility for the thermal conversion recycling of mining tires last year.

The organization is also looking to expand its Maple Program to other commercial tire lines. Kal Tire recently introduced its Maple Program, which uses a proprietary carbon calculator to give mining customers third-party verified data on how much CO2 and oil is saved when they retread tires instead of buying new.

Pirelli, a TRAC member company, has Maureen Kline as Vice President, Public Affairs & Sustainability, Pirelli (North America). She has a background in international public affairs, sustainability, journalism, and communications.

Kline, who has a great passion for sustainability, is the leader of the US Tire Manufacturers Association's Sustainability Task Force. She also serves on the Standards Advisory Group of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB-Value Reporting Foundation), the Corporate Responsibility Steering Committee of the Detroit-based Automotive Industry Action Group, and the Sustainability Task Force.

By devulcanizing rubber from end-of-life tires, Tyromer's Tyre-to-Tyre concept seeks to further improve sustainability in the tyre and rubber business. Through its Tire Derived Polymer (TDP) product, Tyromer's energy-efficient, non-chemical rubber devulcanization technique can reuse roughly 20% of used tire material in new tires and significantly greater percentages in rubber products overall.

Press release by TRAC.