MONTREAL (May 7, 2001)-–Tire recycler Tirex Corp. said it will start fulfilling contracts for products in May through its joint venture with newly formed Xerus Inc.
Montreal-based Tirex and Xerus, with offices in Montreal and Quebec City, already have signed two contracts with customers to supply mudflaps and tile for placement under artificial athletic surfaces, according to Tirex President John L. Threshie Jr. Two more contracts are pending and should be finalized in May, he said.
“As we start producing products and writing orders, we feel it's going to snowball,” Mr. Threshie said. “This is what we've worked toward for years.”
Xerus was founded in “the last couple of months,” according to Mr. Threshie, to formulate composite materials from recycled rubber and plastic. Its founders are Michel DeBlois, president of MD Technologies in Quebec City and an award-winning specialist in applied research and development; and Andre Valois, a designer, developer and marketer of innovative rubber and plastics products.
Besides the mudflaps and athletic surface tile, the joint venture will also produce recycled rubber anti-skid bands that will be welded to recycled plastic pallets, Mr. Valois said. The bands will prevent loads of goods and materials from sliding off the pallets during transport. The startup of production for all three products should commence shortly, Valois said.
Xerus was drawn to the exceptional quality of Tirex's Rutex crumb rubber, made using its patented TCS-1 cryogenic grinding process, according to Mr. Threshie. “Rutex has a smoother edge than other crumb rubber, because we break it apart rather than shredding it,” he said.
Xerus will develop products for individual customers, but farm out production to various subcontractors in the U.S. and Canada, according to Mr. Valois.
“Our specialty is product-specific formulation,” he said. “We don't want to be burdened with the day-to-day operations of a production plant.”
Tirex announced the joint venture with Xerus in an April 12 press release. “The joint venture relationship with Xerus is another step in the vertical integration of the company's plan for long-term growth and security,” Mr. Threshie said in the release.