Event: Rubber Recycling Symposium 2012

Date: 
Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - 09:00 to Friday, October 19, 2012 - 17:00
Event Description: 

The Rubber Recycling Symposium is a biennial event promoted and organized by The Rubber Association of Canada and supported by the Ontario Tire Stewardship.

Many delegates are entrepreneurs, who come to learn about leading edge technologies and market trends in rubber recycling. Others come from a variety of sectors including government, academia, industry consultants, environmentalists and rubber manufacturers. These are the decision-makers and movers and shakers within this sector.

PROGRAM AT A GLANCE

2012 Rubber Recycling Symposium
A Balancing Act
Seeking Equilibrium Between Social Objectives and Economic Realities
Program-at-a-Glance

Introduction
It is a foregone conclusion that tire recycling is a good thing – indeed something to be prodded, perhaps even legislated and certainly to be encouraged. Doing so helps eliminate unsightly stockpiles and utilizes what might otherwise be a wasted resource, not to mention creates needed investments and jobs in the new ‘green economy’. But are we doing so in the most prudent way possible? Are we making the very best use of balancing our desired outcomes with the financial resources available? The 2012 Rubber Recycling Symposium will explore the varied approaches and compare successes and opportunities for delivering the results we need.         
Wednesday October 17, 2012
11:00 am         Delegate Registration
 1:00 pm           Opening Ceremonies
 1:15 pm           Global Overview – Incentives and Outcomes
Our panel of experts from Europe, United States and Canada will identify the global challenges and trends and legislative environments affecting rubber recycling activities. Special attention will be paid to the financial incentives offered to achieve certain tire recycling outcomes in the various regions of the world.  
2:45 pm           Refreshment Break
3:00 pm           Extended Producer Responsibility – What It Means For Tire Recycling
EPR is typically a legislated requirement which compels the manufacturer to pay the end-of-life costs for the products they make. Not surprisingly, tire manufacturers look to minimize these costs, as they do with all other costs. Tire recyclers on the other hand look to maximize their return from end-of-life tires. This session will take an in-depth look at real world experiences where these two opposing forces meet.
4:30 pm           Tire Manufacturing – The Case For Substitution
            Oil, and its many by-products, are core components in tire production. Our expert panellists will share with us the supply and demand outlook for oil, rubber chemicals and synthetic and natural rubber, as well as the cost benefit analysis in choosing recycled rubber to partially replace virgin materials.     
           Networking Reception
Thursday October 18, 2012
8:00 am             Rubber Recycling Markets: What’s Hot – What’s Not
This session will review the major recycling markets in Canada, Europe and U.S.A. describing the market size, trends, constraints and best opportunities.      
9:30 am             Refreshment Break
9:45 am             Pounding The Pavement For A Better Solution
              By all accounts, rubber modified asphalt should be the perfect crumb rubber market solution. Adding CR improves the original product, the roads require less maintenance and last longer, plus it can use an extraordinary quantity of CR. But the uptake in the US and Canada has been somewhat disappointing. This session will look at how RMA advocates are responding to the challenge with new processes and materials.         
11:15 am           New Technologies Fuel the Markets
            The last several years has seen an explosion in new technologies to unlock the inherent energy in scrap tires. Our panel will include experts to discuss the legislative implications for this market and also leading entrepreneurs will share their proprietary solutions. 
12:00 PM          Lunch and Keynote Speaker
2:00 pm             New Age Solutions: Rubber and Other Composites
The ability of rubber to combine and work with other materials is one of the most promising opportunities for creating new markets. This session will explore the more viable composites and their physical properties for insight into the potential markets.
3:30 pm             R&D Funding – How the PROS Handle It
            Several Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) in Canada and elsewhere have created significant R&D funding programs specifically for the rubber recycling industry. This session will review the specific program details and review the most promising opportunities.
4:30 pm           Off-the-Road Tires   - Giant Opportunity to Collaborate
Nowhere is the need to work together more pressing than when dealing with OTR tires, as the issues are multi-jurisdictional, the quantity relatively low, but the risks are relatively high. Our panellists will review the situation and the steps current participants are undertaking to collaborate. 

              Networking Reception
Friday, October 19, 2012
8:30 am            A Balancing Act: Seeking Equilibrium Between Social Objectives and  Economic Realities
The problem of course is that each of the major players in this story, Producers, PROs, Government and the Rubber Recycling industry has very differing objectives and ideas as to what constitutes relative success. This session will bring the major players together for a wide ranging discussion on the role of Producers and Government and Industry as they each need to achieve certain policy and business objectives.
10:00 am         Refreshment Break
10:15 am         A Balancing Act - continued
11:30 am         Outlook 

Our distinguished panellists will share with us their respective thoughts from the Symposium and their insight into the current state of affairs for this industry and its future. 
12:30 pm         Program concludes

Hotel Information:
Sheraton Centre Hotel
123 Queen St., West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tele:             (416) 361-1000      
Fax: (416) 947-4854