Retreading Business and Tyre & Rubber Recycling magazines, the organisers of the Recircle Awards, have announced the launch of 2025 Recircle Awards. In its fourth edition, the event will see a total of 22 awards covering a wide range of categories from across the tyre industry.

This is part of its endevaour to undertake a number of new initiatives to drive inclusivity and engagement across the tyre retreading and tyre recycling sectors as it seeks to evolve and expand its position as the key industry awards event recognising sustainability in the tyre industry.

The awards will culminate in a ceremony to be held next May during Autopromotec 2025 in Bologna, Italy.

David Wilson, Publisher of Retreading Business and Tyre & Rubber Recycling, said, “2025 marks the fourth edition of the Recircle Awards, and we are delighted to able to announce our continued co-operation with Autopromotec. We look forward to being able to host an enhanced ceremony in Bologna next May, and we thank Renzo Servadei and his team for their valued support in helping us to expand the influence of the Recircle Awards as the key awards event recognising the valuable contribution made by the tyre retreading and recycling sectors to the circular economy and to the sustainability of the tyre industry as a whole.

“We are constantly looking for ways to increase the scope of the Awards and to drive engagement from companies from across the industry both large and small, and in analysing feedback from the market, we identified the need to alter the weighting of the voting process in order to gain the optimum balance between the opinions of our expert judges and engagement from the wider market. As a result, 65 percent of the voting strength in the 2025 awards will now be allocated to the views expressed by our independent Nominations Committee.

“We have also increased the robustness of the nominations and voting process by asking shortlisted nominees to submit a written case in support of their nomination which can be analysed by the Committee, as well as increasing the amount of information required to be input by the voting public in order to minimise the risk of frivolous and/or organised mass voting.

“We are constantly looking at ways to improve the awards and we hope that these changes will represent a positive development as we strive to expand the profile and credibility of the Awards on a global level. We look forward to next year’s Awards ceremony with anticipation.”

The first 18 awards categories for the 2025 Recircle Awards include:

1. Lifetime Achievement Award in the Tyre Retreading Sector
2. Lifetime Achievement Award in the Tyre Recycling Sector
3. Retreader of the Year Award
4. Tyre Recycler of the Year Award
5. Best Retreading Industry Innovation
6. Best Tyre Recycling Innovation
7. Employee of the Year
8. Best Company Director
9. Spirit of Retreading Award
10. Circular Economy Award
11. Best Tread Rubber Supplier
12. Best Retreading Equipment Supplier
13. Best Retreading Accessory and Consumables Supplier
14. Best Tyre Recycling Industry Supplier
15. Women’s Award for the Tyre Retreading Sector
16. Women’s Award for the Tyre Recycling Sector
17. Best Tyre Recycling Research Project
18. Business Breakthrough Award

A further four categories will be announced on Monday, 10 February, 2025.

The nominations for the Recircle Awards are now open and can be made through the official voting/nominations platform on the Recircle Awards website.

The shortlist will be announced in a virtual Nominations Ceremony on Monday, 20 January, 2025, will once again be selected by a specially constituted Nominations Committee of 15 people, consisting of the respective editors of Retreading Business and Tyre & Rubber Recycling plus a further 13 individuals from the global tyre retreading and recycling industries selected according to their independent status and their acknowledged expertise within their respective fields.

The voting for the 2025 Recircle Awards will open as soon as the shortlists are announced and will run until Friday, 14 March, 2025. The Awards Ceremony will take place on Thursday 22 May, 2025, during Autopromotec 2025 in Bologna.

Pyrum Innovations AG has announced that its Supervisory Board has extended the contract with Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Kai Winkelmann until 31 March 2030 to ensure continuity in the management of the company.

Winkelmann joined the firm in February 2021, and on 1 April 2022, he was initially named to the Executive Board as CFO. He has so far played a major role in obtaining the company's funding during his tenure at Pyrum, including last year's successful capital raise. Winkelmann is in charge of Finance, Compliance and IT in his role on the Executive Board.

Alf Schmidt, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said, “We are pleased about the contract extension of Kai Winkelmann, who has proven his skills and in-depth expertise in the financial sector and at the management level in recent years. Over the last four years, he has made a significant contribution to the development of the necessary administrative structures and to the success of the company, and has promoted its rapid further development. We have confidence in his foresight and are convinced that Winkelmann will continue to play a central role in the successful implementation of the company’s goals in the years to come.”

Bridgestone Corporation (Bridgestone) has been selected once again to continue as a constituent of three internationally renowned environmental, social and governance (ESG) indexes: the MSCI ESG Leaders Indexes, the FTSE4Good Index Series and the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World).

Bridgestone has been a part of the MSCI ESG Leaders Indexes for two years in a row since 2023, the DJSI World for three years in a row since 2022 and the FTSE4Good Index Series for seven years in a row from 2018. Bridgestone's specific Mid Term Business Plan (2024-2026) has been steadily implemented, putting sustainability at the centre of its operations. The company's 2020 vision and Mid-Long Term Business Strategy served as the foundation for the plan.

According to the company statement, “Setting forth the vision of ‘Toward 2050, Bridgestone continues to provide social value and customer value as a sustainable solutions company’, Bridgestone links its business to the realisation of carbon neutrality, a circular economy and nature positivity across the entire value chain. From the ‘produce and sell’ phase and the ‘use’ of its products through to their ‘renewal’ to raw materials, Bridgestone aims to build a foundation for creating sustainability value.”

The following initiatives have contributed to Bridgestone's inclusion in these indexes:

• Contributing to a circular economy and attaining carbon neutrality by using ENLITEN technology to make tyres from recycled and renewable resources, using BCMA and switching to ‘Green & Smart’ manufacturing at Bridgestone locations to increase resource productivity and energy efficiency.
• Encouragement of nature positivity through initiatives for the sustainable use of water resources and natural rubber that are closely related to the commercial operations of the firm, including strengthening assistance for natural rubber smallholders.
• Strengthening of a thorough structure and procedure for human rights due diligence that aims to identify, mitigate, avoid and disclose human rights concerns.
• Visualisation and disclosure of the impact of social contribution actions that are in line with the global goals.

German automotive company and tyre major Continental has been added another feather to its cap with bagging the ‘Tire Manufacturer of the Year’ at this year’s Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence at this year’s Tire Technology Expo.

With this, Continental becomes the only tyre maker to have won two concurrent awards – Tire Manufacturer of the Year and Environmental Achievement of the Year – Manufacturing. The company’s Lousado facility in Portugal was also recognised for manufacturing tyres CO2-neutrally since last year.

Edwin Goudswaard, Head of Research & Development, Continental Tires, said, "We are especially proud to be the only manufacturer to be honoured twice at the Tire Technology Awards in an extremely competitive field. Both awards highlight our strong commitment to sustainable tire development and manufacturing. In such a highly competitive market, this success demonstrates our innovative prowess and our ability to actively shape the future of the industry."

Interestingly, this also marks it the fourth time that the German company has bagged the Tire Manufacturer of the Year award. The awards took into consideration tyre makers globally and were evaluated by a jury of 27 independent industry experts.

Going forward, Continental has outlined its ambition to switch all of its tyre plants to fully carbon-neutral production processes by 2040 at the latest.

Hankook Tire & Technology (Hankook Tire) has appointed Jongseon Ahn and Sanghoon Lee as Executive Directors and new Co-CEOs, following a resolution passed at the Annual General Meeting and Board of Directors meeting held on 26 March.

Ahn will be in charge of Hankook Tire's global innovation, R&D, procurement, production and quality, while Lee will be in charge of global sales and marketing initiatives to strengthen the premium positioning of the company's unified global brand, Hankook, as well as the supply of original equipment (OE) tyres for new vehicles. In addition to the leadership nominations, shareholders approved all eight agenda items at the Annual General Meeting, including the approval of the consolidated financial accounts, partial revisions to the Articles of Incorporation and director appointments.

Ahn has extensive leadership expertise and a proven track record of advancing technology innovation in the operational holding firm, Hankook & Company. He oversaw general management and spearheaded innovative initiatives in 2021 while serving as COO of Hankook & Company and Head of ES (Energy Solution) Business Headquarters. He became the CEO in 2022 and oversaw the company's expansion of premium Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) battery sales into important international markets, which greatly increased profitability and strengthened the company's platform for long-term success.

Lee's vast worldwide leadership experience serves as the foundation for his profound understanding of marketing and global sales strategy. He has held important regional leadership positions in China and Europe since 2018, during which time he has played a crucial role in bolstering the company's premium brand positioning internationally and continuously promoting creative business performance, both of which have greatly increased revenue. At the conclusion of last year, he was nominated as Hankook Tire's Co-CEO due to his success and leadership.