French companies to establish car tire retreading unit at Bridgestone site

Bethune, France – French car maintenance and mobility specialist Mobivia and retreader Black-Star have signed an agreement to repurpose parts of the idled Bridgestone tire manufacturing site in Bethune to build a tire recycling and passenger car tire retreading facility. 

Supported by Bridgestone, the “integrated tire recycling ecosystem” will cover the collection, sorting, recycling and retreading of passenger car tires and will create around 50 jobs in 2022, said a Mobivia statement 2 July. 

The €5-million project is scheduled for operation January 2022 and will ramp up to employ 200 people by 2025, it added. 

The waste tires will be collected at Mobivia’s auto centers in Norauto, Midas and Carter-Cash.

According to Mobivia, Black-Star's technology will save 80% materials, including 9kg of rubber and of steel, with each retreaded tire. 

The business is expected to occupy 25% of the Bethune site and will tap the know-how, equipment and former employees of the site, which closed 30 April.

The project is part of Bridgestone’s €16-million agreement with the real state company SIG to repurpose the Bethune site to a ‘multi-technology industrial pole’.

According to French press, the recycling facility will have the capacity to process 4 million old tires per year, of which about 30% will be retreaded.