Bandag Manufacturing on Track to Store 1,000,000L of Rainwater

Bandag Manufacturing has completed the first part of a project which will enable the Wacol plant to harvest and store more than one million litres of rainwater.

Bandag – the number one tyre retreading brand in Australasia – added 13 new rainwater tanks to its existing harvesting capabilities at the end of August, enabling the business to collect and store an extra 610,000 litres of water.

Stage two will be completed in the coming months and will take Bandag’s total rainwater storage capacity to 1,100,000 litres.

“This initiative is all about strengthening our commitment to being as environmentally friendly as possible,” said Greg Nielsen, General Manager Retread Business.

“We want to make sure our commitment to the environment doesn’t stop with our products; we want to be an industry leader in this space and to do that you need to take action.” 

Bandag retreads more than 550,000 truck casings every year, saving them from ending up as waste. The harvested rainwater is used in the manufacturing site’s cooling tower, which is integral to Bandag operations – servicing mixers, mills, boiler and cooling tunnels and representing more than 95% of the water consumed at the site.

“We’ve been storing rainwater since 2008 but our new collection capabilities significantly reduces our reliance on local mains water and is a key part of our overall environmental focus,” Mr Nielsen said.

 “We have implemented a host of other environmental initiatives, including installing two 100 kilowatt solar power systems, which significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.”

“Retreading is a highly practical and efficient form of recycling with real environmental benefits. We are endeavouring wherever possible to apply this same environmental philosophy to all areas of our business,” Mr Nielsen said. 

Bandag’s latest product innovation is a Low Rolling Resistant (LRR) retread, which has a 14% lower rolling resistance coefficient than comparable product – delivering between 2-6% fuel savings for transport operators with important reductions in carbon emissions.

Bandag Manufacturing Pty Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bridgestone Australia Ltd. Bandag Manufacturing Pty Ltd has more than 30 franchised Bandag dealers across Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Noumea and Papua New Guinea. Bandag Retread products are serviced and sold by more than 350 specialist truck tyre dealers located around the company’s network. For more information click here.