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USTMA holds briefings to educate and provide more information to members of Congress and their staff about legislative and regulatory issues affecting the U.S. tire manufacturing industry. This year, USTMA is offering congressional offices briefings on resilient infrastructure; emerging tire technologies, including connected tires and non-pneumatic tires and their roles in future mobility; and a behind-the-scenes look at how tires are made – including sourcing raw materials, implementing design considerations, and understanding the manufacturing process

The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) kicked off its annual consumer tire safety awareness campaign, National Tire Safety Week. The campaign, running through July 4, 2021 and highlighting the theme: “ Do Your P.A.R.T., Know Your Roll,” is designed to educate consumers about the importance of proper tire care and maintenance.

Doing its part for National Tire Safety Week (June 28 – July 4), Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) is reminding drivers that checking and maintaining their tires will keep them safer on the road this summer.

Bridgestone Retail Operations (BSRO), a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone), announced it has donated $100,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio to provide local club kids access to critical technology resources and bridge digital divides. The gift was announced at Firestone Country Club during the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship and is part of the Bridgestone Driving Great Futures program that supports Boys and Girls Clubs through customer and teammate donations at all 2,200 BSRO stores nationwide.

The Rubber Division, ACS, is asking for assistance in extending its outreach to chemical engineering, chemistry and engineering students who have expressed an interest in the polymer industry, but who do not have polymer focused programming at their college/university. This is a new audience the Division is working to reach: undergraduate students who do not attend schools with ACS student chapters. The Division seeks to make all aspects of the industry known to these students, and there is no better way to achieve that than to bring several of them to the International Elastomer Conference. This will be a great opportunity for these students to gain more knowledge specific to the industry, make connections, and show them how amazing the polymer industry is and why they should be a part of it.

Dow and national sports agency Sport Singapore (SportSG) announced the establishment of a permanent shoe waste collection ecosystem, which aims to recycle 170,000 pairs of used sports shoes per year. This collaboration also involves partners such as B.T. Sports, Alba WH, Decathlon and Standard Chartered Bank.

Due to rising raw material and logistics costs, Wacker intends to raise its temporary surcharge on Vinnapas dispersible polymer powder, which has been effective since May this year. The surcharge will now be EUR 510 instead of EUR 400 per metric ton. It will be applied for all orders shipped as of July and August. The measure is temporary and ensures a fair and reliable supply of products until the situation normalizes. The price adjustment enables the group’s Wacker Polymers business division to continue providing customers with high product quality, technological innovations, best-in-class customer service and technical support, along with supporting investment to secure the capability for future growth across focus markets.

Following announcement of a joint development agreement in June 2020, Dow and Shell report progress on their technology program to electrically heat steam cracker furnaces. This new route has the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from one of the central processes of the chemical industry.
The companies confirm that the joint program has been awarded €3.5 million ($4.2 million) in MOOI (Mission-Driven Research, Development and Innovation subsidy) scheme funding by the Netherlands government. They also announce joining forces with The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) and the Institute for Sustainable Process Technology (ISPT). This multi-company collaboration aims to accelerate key milestones for the near term progress and longer term breakthroughs needed.