Interviu – “The Diplomat Bucharest”
Bucureşti, Articol aparut in Publicatia The Diplomat Bucharest – 02.02.2014
Eco Anvelope predicts 15 percent drop in business for 2014
SC Eco Anvelope SA este singura organizaţie de preluare de responsabilităţi din domeniul gestionării anvelopelor uzate din România. Eco Anvelope s-a înfiinţat în anul 2004 şi a avut ca membri fondatori firme mari din domeniu, prezente în România: Continental, Automotive Products, Goodyear, Dunlop, Michelin, Pirelli şi Tofan Grup.
Pentru a afla care sunt preocupările şi problemele pe care le întâmpină această organizaţie de preluare de responsabilităţi am stat de vorbă cu directorul executiv al societăţii Eco Anvelope, Florin Brabete
By law, 80 percent of the tires brought onto the market by producers must be collected and recovered properly. Eco Anvelope was established in 2004 by major tire producers such as Continental Automotive Products, Michelin Romania and Pirelli in order to shoulder their responsibility and meet the target. The tire market is currently decreasing due to the poor economic climate and the trend is likely to continue. In 2013, Eco Anvelope collected and recycled 33,000 tonnes of tires, a 20 percent drop compared to the previous year. Moreover, the organization expects to see the same scenario this year, with the figure reaching 28,000 tonnes, a 15 percent decrease.
“Because of the declining collection and recovery of tires, we face a situation in which there is a lot more tires on the market than we actually need,” Florin Brabete, the general manager of Eco Anvelope, tells The Diplomat-Bucharest. “Furthermore, the second-hand market has grown. While the average lifespan of a new tire is five years, a second-hand one can be used for five, six months.
So it quickly becomes waste.”
Eco Anvelope collaborates with 30 working points, thereby covering the whole country. They collect the waste and transport it to the recovery operators. The used tires are recovered in three ways: by recycling, obtaining crumb rubber that can be used for playgrounds, by using them as they are for different activities (landfill construction or shooting ranges on a railing behind targets) or by co-incineration at local cement plants. “In Romania, the crumb rubber recyclers are few, because the demand for such material is low, while the investment is this process is high,” says Brabete. “Crumb rubber can be used in the production of technical articles, embedded into the rubber used in the manufacture of carpets and belts for conveyor belts. Moreover, it can be used for asphalt production, ensuring a rapid thawing and reducing the braking distance and the noise. It is expensive, but we have to keep in mind its advantages and long lifespan.”
Asked how Romania’s waste management system could be improved, the general manager replied that the implementation of a unitary system would be a solution. “We have to better identify the importers, producers and those responsible for the collection and recovery of waste. At the moment, there is no such system for all the waste,” he concludes. Eco Anvelope posted a EUR 2.6 million turnover last year, and estimates EUR 2.2 million by the end of 2014.
