A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which the wheel travels. Most tires, such as those for automobiles and bicycles, are pneumatically inflated structures, which also provide a flexible cushion that absorbs shock as the tire rolls over rough features on the surface. Tires provide a footprint, called a contact patch, that is designed to match the weight of the vehicle with the bearing strength of the surface that it rolls over by providing a bearing pressure that will not deform the surface excessively.
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the properties it had in its virgin or original state. It is an alternative to "conventional" waste disposal that can save material and help lower greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling can prevent the waste of potentially useful materials and reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, thereby reducing: energy usage, air pollution, and water pollution.
Continental Tire the Americas, LLC, d.b.a. General Tire, is an American manufacturer of tires for motor vehicles. Founded in 1915 in Akron, Ohio by William Francis O'Neil, Winfred E. Fouse, C.J. Jahant, Robert Iredell, & H.B. Pushee as The General Tire & Rubber Company using funding from O'Neil's father, Michael G., who owned Akron's O'Neil's department store, the company later diversified into a conglomerate (GenCorp) with holdings in tires, rubber compounds, rocketry and aeronautics (Aerojet), entertainment and news, and real estate. The tire division was sold to Germany's Continental in 1987, becoming Continental Tire North America, before its re-incorporation again to its current name. The compounds division was spun off & became OMNOVA Solutions. The rocketry business was kept and expanded, and after a couple company name changes, the parent company is now Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings.
Injection moulding is a manufacturing process for producing parts by injecting molten material into a mould, or mold. Injection moulding can be performed with a host of materials mainly including metals, glasses, elastomers, confections, and most commonly thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers. Material for the part is fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and injected into a mould cavity, where it cools and hardens to the configuration of the cavity. After a product is designed, usually by an industrial designer or an engineer, moulds are made by a mould-maker from metal, usually either steel or aluminium, and precision-machined to form the features of the desired part. Injection moulding is widely used for manufacturing a variety of parts, from the smallest components to entire body panels of cars. Advances in 3D printing technology, using photopolymers that do not melt during the injection moulding of some lower temperature thermoplastics, can be used for some simple injection moulds.
Brunswick Corporation, formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is an American corporation that has been developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products since 1845. Today, Brunswick has more than 13,000 employees working in 24 countries to serve customers in over 170 markets around the globe. The organization is focused on designing and innovating the world’s premier marine brands, focusing on innovation and inspiration on the water through a collection of award-winning brands, including Sea Ray, Boston Whaler, Bayliner, Mercury Marine, Attwood, Lund, Crestliner, Mastervolt, MotorGuide, Harris Pontoons, Freedom Boat Club, Princecraft, Heyday, Lowe, Uttern, Quicksilver and CZone, among many others. In 2019, Brunswick reported sales of US$4.1 billion. Brunswick's global headquarters is in the northern Chicago suburb of Mettawa, Illinois.
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is an American tire company founded by Harvey Firestone in 1900 initially to supply solid rubber side-wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled transportation common in the era. Firestone soon saw the huge potential for marketing tires for automobiles, and the company was a pioneer in the mass production of tires. Harvey Firestone had a personal friendship with Henry Ford, and used this to become the original equipment supplier of Ford Motor Company automobiles, and was also active in the replacement market.
Plastics engineering encompasses the processing, design, development, and manufacture of plastics products. A plastic is a polymeric material that is in a semi-liquid state, having the property of plasticity and exhibiting flow. Plastics engineering encompasses plastics material and plastic machinery. Plastic Machinery is the general term for all types of machinery and devices used in the plastics processing industry. The nature of plastic materials poses unique challenges to an engineer. Mechanical properties of plastics are often difficult to quantify, and the plastics engineer has to design a product that meets certain specifications while keeping costs to a minimum. Other properties that the plastics engineer has to address include: outdoor weatherability, thermal properties such as upper use temperature, electrical properties, barrier properties, and resistance to chemical attack.
Compression Moulding is a method of moulding in which the moulding material, generally preheated, is first placed in an open, heated mould cavity. The mould is closed with a top force or plug member, pressure is applied to force the material into contact with all mould areas, while heat and pressure are maintained until the moulding material has cured. The process employs thermosetting resins in a partially cured stage, either in the form of granules, putty-like masses, or preforms.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is an American company that specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing and sales of replacement automobile and truck tires, and subsidiaries that specialize in medium truck, motorcycle and racing tires. With headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, Cooper Tire has 60 manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical and design facilities within its worldwide family of subsidiary companies. In July 1960, the company became a publicly held corporation and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Plastic recycling is the process of recovering scrap or waste plastic and reprocessing the material into useful products. Compared with the lucrative recycling of metal, and similar to the low value of glass recycling, plastic polymers recycling is often more challenging because of low density and low value. There are also numerous technical hurdles to overcome when recycling plastic.
Founded in 1899, Sonoco Products Company is a United States-based international provider of diversified consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and packaging supply chain services and the world's largest producer of composite cans, tubes, and cores. With annualized net sales of approximately $4.9 billion, Sonoco has 19,900 employees in more than 335 operations in 33 countries, serving more than 85 nations. The company is headquartered in Hartsville, South Carolina, and is South Carolina's largest corporation in terms of sales.
Kumho Tire Co., Inc. is a South Korean tire company. Headquartered in Gwangju, South Korea, it was a subsidiary of the Kumho Asiana Group until 2018, after which the company became a part of Chinese tire manufacturer Doublestar.
Rubber mulch is a type of mulch used in gardens and landscaping that is made from recycled rubber.
Tire recycling, or rubber recycling, is the process of recycling waste tires that are no longer suitable for use on vehicles due to wear or irreparable damage. These tires are a challenging source of waste, due to the large volume produced, the durability of the tires, and the components in the tire that are ecologically problematic.
Dunlop is a brand of tire originally produced by the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company from the end of the 19th century, taking its name from John Boyd Dunlop. The brand is used for many other products made from rubber or with rubber components and some with a looser connection to rubber.
Easy Gardener Products, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Waco, Texas that manufactures and sells gardening products. European operations are managed in London.
A playground surface is the material that lies under and around swings, slides, monkey bars and other playground equipment. The surfaces are usually made of wood or rubber and designed specifically for aesthetics, child safety, and/or ADA wheelchair accessibility. Playground safety surfacing often involves the use of recycled rubber tire products such as poured rubber, rubber tiles or loose rubber mulch.
Micronized rubber powder (MRP) is classified as fine, dry, powdered elastomeric crumb rubber in which a significant proportion of particles are less than 100 µm and free of foreign particulates. MRP particle size distributions typically range from 180 µm to 10 µm. Narrower distributions can be achieved depending on the classification technology.
Lehigh Technologies is a specialty materials company that manufactures micronized rubber powders (MRP). Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Lehigh Technologies operates a MRP manufacturing plant at its headquarters, with an annual production capacity of more than 100 million pounds. Lehigh also operates a MRP research and development facility, its Application & Development Center.
GreenMantra Technologies is a clean technology company that produces value-added synthetic waxes, polymer additives and other chemicals from post-consumer and post-industrial recycled plastics. These products are used in various applications including roofing and paving, plastics processing, plastics composites, inks and coatings. The company is focused on "up-cycling" recycled plastics into specialty materials, creating a more circular economy for plastics where they are beneficially reused rather than landfilled.
