WASHINGTON-The two-year-old National Association of Scrap Tire Processors has formally merged with the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries.
The NASTP executive committee and the ISRI board of directors both voted unanimously Sept. 10 to transform the tire processors' group into the Tire & Rubber Division and Scrap Tire Processors Chapter of ISRI. The vote was taken at ISRI's Fall Membership Conference.
Joining with ISRI should prove a major boon to the Tire & Rubber Division's approximately 15 processor members, according to NASTP President Bill Vincent.
``It gives companies engaged in the tire processing business access to ISRI's many resources, provides a business and networking forum, and gives us a strong voice in Washington, D.C.,'' said Mr. Vincent.
Speaking from his business, Colt Inc. Scrap Tire Centers in Scott, La., Mr. Vincent made it plain that all these things are very important to the members of the former NASTP. Mr. Vincent, who co-founded the organization in October 1999 with Norman Emanuel of Baltimore-based Emanuel Tire, said NASTP members seek ``a place at the table''-something they feel they've been denied-when scrap tire laws and regulations are written.
The NASTP's mission is twofold, said its newsletter:
* To ``develop industry standards and solutions with a uniform strategy to promote and advance the scrap tire processing industry; and
* ``Educate and inform national, state and local government agencies and the public to the environmentally beneficial uses of processed scrap tires.''
ISRI, which started working on scrap tire issues in 1987, hopes to attract more tire processors members to the institute with the establishment of the Tire & Rubber Division.
``The leaders of ISRI worked closely with the leaders of NASTP to map out this new structure, and both groups realized early on that the tire processors were a natural fit within ISRI,'' said ISRI President Robin Wiener.
With the creation of the Tire & Rubber Division and the Scrap Tire Processors Chapter, ISRI now has four divisions and 22 chapters.