Rosalie Akerman, Envandé CEO, has seen the company grow in a tough market and, after some challenging moments, gain ISO 9001:2008 accreditation

 

RUBBER recycling is a challenging sector in which to gain market traction but Envandé of Maritzburg is proving that consistent implementation of quality systems pays dividends, capping off the latest phase of its development with its recent accreditation to ISO 9001:2008 standard.

Run by husband-and-wife team Gareth and Rosalie Akerman, Envandé manufactures rubber tread reclaim and rubber crumb from collected cured tread NR/SBR (natural rubber/styrene butadiene rubber) by product. The quality of the materials produced and particularly the stable properties achieved have been drawing attention.

Envandé went through the school of hard knocks when a fire gutted its previous premises in 2013. Fires at rubber plants are not that rare. The chief cause of blazes is rubber’s innate ability to retain heat, and the origins of such a hazard can lie and smolder undetected, which is what happened when the plant at Prestwich Road ignited overnight. But if that is the main hazard of rubber, it is also its great advantage as the material’s ability to withstand heat and retain flexible and insulation properties has seen its enduring popularity only further entrenched.

If rubber plant fires are not that rare, however, recovery from such a setback can be. In Envandé’s case, as a small-to-medium enterprise, the setback could have put them out of business. That didn’t suit the Akermans, however, and their commitment to the task paid off when, just over two years later, its quality systems audit revealed it had achieved ISO 9000 standard.

That was just rewards for the Envandé management team. The Akermans’ skills have complemented each other, allowing them to solve some challenging processing issues. One of the problems, at the outset, was that equipment used traditionally to process rubber scrap was unsuitable for extracting reinforcing fibre from conveyor belting. The partners then developed a system, a world first, to consistently remove 99.9% of the fibre from belting.

The quality of Envandé’s rubber reclaim and rubber crumb are proving popular, to the point where it has also developed export markets. Its rubber crumb is supplied down to #60 mesh, with a particle size of just 0,25mm – and the KZN business is proving it can maintain consistency at that size.

The ISO quality process has had an impact and Envandé’s staff who are committed to the success of the project

Envandé rubber crumb and tread reclaim is used by tyre and belting manufacturers, compounders, rubber technical product manufacturers and in applications such as artificial turf, athletics tracks, road and path surfacing, carpet underlay and flooring as well as other insulation uses.

www.evande.com