TRAC announces 2023 Industry Awards

Mississauga, ONT – The Tire and Rubber Association of Canada (TRAC) has recognize outstanding individuals and businesses for their dedication and commitment to excellence in the tire and rubber industry including end-of-life (ELT) tire management and other businesses focused on sustainability.

The Awards Ceremony took place following the Association’s Annual General Meeting on June 14, 2023, at the Alt Hotel Toronto Airport in Mississauga.

“The Canadian tire and rubber industries as well as ELT management businesses are filled with talent, experience, and history, and our 2023 winners prove it. We are pleased to celebrate nine individuals and companies who have demonstrated leadership and excellence, and whose contribution to the tire and rubber industry in the areas of business, innovation, and sustainability had been simply outstanding,” said Carol Hochu, President and CEO of TRAC.

The Leader of the Year award recipient is Dr. Barry Takallou, President & CEO of CRM. Dr. Takallou was instrumental in the development of Rubber Modified Asphalt, one of the most sustainable circular markets for scrap tires. He has authored several technical papers and serves on the boards of many technical and trade societies. In the past 25 years, he has grown his company, CRM, to an operation with 10 tire recycling plants (three in Canada and seven in the U.S.). CRM recycles over 40 million scrap tires annually into value added crumb rubber for highway construction materials, synthetic turf fields and rubber molded products. Additionally, CRM is the largest cryogenic crumb rubber manufacturing company in North America and sets the standard for diverting scrap tires from landfills and recycling them into higher-valued sustainable markets.

Lifetime Achievement Award – TRAC is proud to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Doran Moore, Adrian Courtenay, and Manuel Estragadinho in recognition of their outstanding achievements and enduring legacies to the Canadian tire and rubber industry and to the community at large.

Doran Moore, Firestone / Rubber Association of Canada (RAC, now TRAC) – Doran Moore joined Firestone Canada in 1945. He rose from a sales position to become President and CEO in 1969. He is also a key figure in TRAC’s history. In 1979, when Goodyear’s decision to leave RAC had thrown the Association into a potential existential crisis, the Board called on then-retired Doran to step in and save the organization. The following years saw many overtures by Doran and the Association to Goodyear as well as Michelin. In 1982, Goodyear rejoined the Association, with Michelin, Bridgestone, and Yokohama also joining the same year.

Adrian Courtenay, Bridgestone – Adrian recently retired from Bridgestone after 44 years of service where he held numerous positions including VP sales Western Canada, Fleet/OE manager, and Regional General manager. Since 2008, Adrian has served as a director on the board of Tire Stewardship B.C. (TSBC) representing TRAC, and he is also representing TSBC with the B.C. Trucking Association. Adrian is very well respected by his fellow directors, staff, program stakeholders, and the industry at large.

Manuel Estragadinho, Pliteq – After immigrating to Canada, Manuel started working at National Rubber in Toronto. Here he started his long career of conceptualizing, sketching, detailing, fabricating, and commissioning ideas for processing recycled rubber, which he continues to do to this day at Pliteq. Manuel has possibly worked on thousands of different recycled rubber applications and has single-handedly innovated and developed full production lines across North America which have diverted millions of tons of scrap rubber from landfills.

Sustainability – In the area of Sustainability, TRAC honours Stevyn Arnt of Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan (TSS) and Halifax C&D Recycling Ltd. for their environmental, economic, and social contributions.

Stevyn Arnt, Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan
In just three years as the CEO of TSS, Stevyn has brought new approaches to the Saskatchewan tire program, cleaning up legacy stockpiles and advancing the program toward value-added recycling. Some of the most notable accomplishments include clearing two stockpiles of legacy scrap tires (over 20,000 MT’s combined); establishing a plan to eliminate legacy tire issues with the goal to eliminate all known legacy tires within the next 3-5 years; and increasing tire recovery rate from approximately 70% (average) to 79% (2022).

Halifax C&D Recycling Ltd. – HCD is a leader in providing long-term, environmentally sustainable, and economically viable alternatives and solutions for used tires in Nova Scotia; and had recently expanded operations into Newfoundland by setting up Coastal Tire Recycling. HCD in partnership with Dalhousie University has developed several sustainable applications for Tire Derived Aggregate in various engineering projects. The company has invested in infrastructure, land, equipment, and research and development to provide services to the Nova Scotia’s Resource Recovery Fund Board and Newfoundland’s Multi-Materials Stewardship Board.

Young Leader – The Young Leader award recognizes inspirational and dedicated young leaders who demonstrate industry leadership in management, innovation, technology and/or sustainability within their organization or community. This year, TRAC recognizes Ankita Saikia, David Pulla, and Josh Havin.

Ankita Saikia, Tyromer – Ankita started with Tyromer as a Research Engineer and roes quickly to the position as the VP of Technical and Quality. In this critical role she leads both managing technical improvements for the research and development as well as quality arms of the organization. She led Tyromer Waterloo facility to ISO 9001:2015 re-certification, and also company’s new Windsor facility to its initial ISO certification.

David Pulla, Dynamic Tires – Over the past 14 years, David has made remarkable contributions and implemented many initiatives that have significantly improved the company’s profitability and brand awareness in the marketplace. He offers a wealth of knowledge combined with generosity of a leader who always goes above and beyond when it comes to serving his clients. As such, he’s built strong relationships with key stakeholders, including suppliers, distributors, and customers, which has helped him to expand and achieve greater professional success.

Josh Havin, Pliteq – Josh’s leadership and passion have been invaluable to Pliteq’s success. He is a talented, dedicated, and passionate leader, exceptional engineer, great mentor, and a champion of sustainability. He brings an outstanding skillset and hard work to every project. Josh has been a driving force and a leader in Pliteq’s development and growth. He is passionate a vocal advocate for sustainability, and as such he is committed to reducing Pliteq’s environmental impact.