Not only have costs gone up, but sourcing enough containers has been a huge issue in itself.”
Terry said that a solution has been retreading products, where tyres are sourced locally and manufactured at Bridgestone’s network of Bandag retread factories across the UK, rather than other parts of the world.
“We continue to focus on retreading, not least because a retreaded tyre uses one third of the materials of a standard tyre, thus being affected less by raw material price increases. It is a cost effective, sustainable alternative and it arrives from within the UK.”
Bridgestone has committed to retreading for a sustained period of time and has invested in this sector for many years – both in its technology and its Bandag network of dealers.”
Terry also confirmed that Bridgestone has just agreed to its biggest retreading investment, as stimulated by the Chancellor’s promised tax relief for capital investment projects. This has accelerated plans that were already earmarked for Bridgestone’s UK facilities.
And finally, advances in the EU tyre label to finally include retreading products for the first time will also stimulate Bridgestone into further investment, in an exciting time for the sector.
Terry added: “Changes will come into effect on tyre labelling from 2023 onwards and we will be making sure that our entire product line-up will be best-in-class in the marketplace. This will be happening in partnership with our European colleagues and technical centre (TCE) in Rome.”
It is exciting times to be working in the retreading sector and we look forward to offering more solutions to commercial fleets, which will not only benefit their daily operations, but the environment as a whole.”
