Also, Pittsburgh-based Liberty Tire Recycling will highlight its tire collection and recycling services as it engages ITEC attendees and other exhibitors throughout the event.
"Municipalities, trucking companies, automotive service stations and other businesses need a reliable partner that will collect and properly recycle their scrap tires," says CEO Jeffrey Kendall, noting that the company has "the largest network of tire recycling facilities in North America, making us a one- stop, coast-to-coast tire collection service."
Each year the firm collects 110 million-plus tires from a vast lineup of customers at more than 60,000 locations. The company maintains a network of door-to-door reclamation services with processing plants at strategic locations throughout North America, he explains.Once they are collected, the tires are recycled and transformed into eco-friendly products that include crumb rubber for synthetic athletic fields; industrial feedstock for molded products; additive for rubberized asphalt; tire-derived fuel for industrial kilns, mills and power plants; and rubber mulch for landscaping and playgrounds, according to Kendall.
Looking ahead, Liberty's vice president of sales and marketing, Mike Wezel, will be "debunking myths about crumb rubber" at the Sept. 30-Oct. 2 Tire Industry Association (TIA) Environmental Symposium in Ocean City, Md.
He'll also cover scientific, performance and environmental facts about the material.
In a session entitled "Separating Myths from Facts Concerning the Use of Recycled Rubber Products," Wezel will discuss "how environmental activists and others continue to perpetuate myths and misconceptions concerning the use of recycled rubber in various rubber-based products, and how industry advocacy groups, associations and leading tire recycling companies are launching proactive campaigns to bring the facts to the forefront."
Specifically, he'll point out that "study after study has concluded that the use of crumb rubber in products such as synthetic turf or playground surfaces poses no health or environmental risk."
"There are many myths and outright distortions out there concerning the use of crumb rubber," reports Dick Gust, co-chair of the TIA Environmental Advisory Council (EAC). "Yet this product has been studied thoroughly and has been declared safe. If you want to not only learn the truth about this product, but see how it might be beneficial, you need to be at the TIA Environmental Symposium."
"TIA is a leader in disseminating facts and debunking myths about the tire industry, so our Environmental Symposium is a logical place for an expert like Mike to give the facts about crumb rubber," notes TIA Executive Vice President Roy Littlefield.
For more information, www.itec-tireshow.com.
