ETRA was extremely busy throughout the entire summer. As you may recall from earlier articles, we traveled within the EU and even to the US with conferences as far away as Zurich, Berlin, and Murcia, Kansas Cityand Sacramento, among others.
Sacramento was the site of the annual CalRecycle Conference. The two day event took place on 29-30 August with some of the most prominent speakers from the US and Canada. Delegates reflected the broader Waste Management sector with the primary focus on tire-management, recycling and product outputs.
The programme provided a showcase for the myriad tyre-related activities under-taken in the State and the many research projects and commercial relationships that cross state-borders. Familiar faces included Denise Kennedy, John Sheerin, Mike Kubalek, Sam Visaisok (and son Jon), and others who offered updates on various market sectors. Valerie Shulman offered an overview of tyre recycling in the EU, and discussed with delegates some of the differences between the North American and European approaches, trends and potentials.
The programme was well thought-out and presented to illustrate not only the issues of the day (SBR), but their resolutions and on-going focus for the future. Speakers offered new insights into how the SBR issue can stimulate new activities, products and processes. Various speakers discussed potential uses for RTMs, such as thetyre derived aggregates and materialvalorisation through pyrolysis or Thermoplastic compounds. There were many opportunities for future cooperations.
Some of these discussions, technologies and opportunities will be continued at the ETRA Conference on 20-22 March 2019 in Brussels.
