Kal Tire’s Maple Program recognizes customers' reduced environmental impact when retreading
Kal Tire's new carbon calculator is able to determine fuel and carbon emissions saved by retreading earthmover tires compared to buying new. With that, the company is launching its Maple Program, which quantifies a customer's environmental impact as they grow their fleet with retreads.
"We have long claimed that our retread products are beneficial to the environment, but now we are able to quantify those benefits and recognize customers for opting to retread earthmover tires," says Darren Flint, vice president, tire lifetime services and vice president, European and West African operations, Kal Tire's Mining Tire Group. "Retreading reduces a tire's operating cost per hour, and it has become increasingly important to customers to reduce their impact on the environment. We look forward to providing customers with actual data on the environmental savings they achieve."
The Maple Program uses data from Kal Tire's new carbon calculator to award customers with one to five stars according to the percentage of their fleet running retreads rather than new tires. The program is first launching in Chile and the U.K., with plans to roll out in other regions Kal Tire operates.
In 2021, new environmental laws in Chile will dictate responsible tire recycling, of which retreading is an official option. Pedro Pacheco, vice president, Latin America operations, Kal Tire's Mining Tire Group, says Chilean customers have already embraced the Maple Program and see the value in receiving the certificate. "This program gives us a framework to promote the environmental value of our retread product and process and provides solutions for customers within this new law. As we can offer incentive to increasing the amount of tires retreaded, we're giving tires another life at a much lower cost and environmental impact, with the added benefit of reducing the number of casings going into the waste stream."
One of the largest quarrying groups in the U.K. has been benefitting from Kal Tire retreads for several years, retreading hundreds of tires each year. They are among the first U.K. companies to receive the Maple Program certificate highlighting how much oil and carbon emissions they've saved by retreading versus buying new tires.
Two years of research and development went into the carbon calculator, which included analyzing more than 125,000 Kal Tire retreading production records spanning the past 20 years.After a six-month approval phase, the carbon calculator was validated by SCS Global Services,an international leader in third-party environmental certification. The verification applies to all Kal Tire retreading facilities located in Canada, the U.K., West Africa and Chile, as well as their newest retread facility opening in Mexico in October 2019.
"The results were very positive, and now we can confidently share these oil and emissions savings with customers," says Flint. "Our core goal throughout all operations is to prolong the life of the tires that keep our customers' fleets running. The Maple Program for retreads is just the first step in ensuring that the environmental benefit of keeping tires rolling and out of scrap piles is both recognized and appreciated."
Kal Tire began offering retreading services in the 1970s as a way to help customers keep tires in production and reduce the total cost of tire ownership. The Maple Program was named as a nod to Kal Tire's Canadian roots. The company is looking at incorporating other environmentally friendly tire management offerings into the Maple Program, such as its proprietary Ultra Repair technology that is able to repair large injuries on tires that would otherwise be scrapped.
