Company Info

Alpar Katona says his million-dollar investment will pay off - in financial and environmental spades. His Surrey automotive company, Katona Tire, is now home to one of only three tire re-manufacturing systems in North America. Katona bought the Italian-made technology because he couldn't meet customer demand for used tires.

"Selling tires became our major business," Katona said. "We had too many customers and had to send them away."

Seeing thousands of used tire cases destined to clog local landfills also drove Katona to make the advancements. "In the upcoming years, we can save millions of tires from landfills."

Currently in the Lower Mainland, there are only two tire-processing plants that dispose of used tires - Western Rubber Products Ltd. on Annacis Island grinds tires down for use as raw material, and Delta's Tilbury Cement Ltd. burns them. Katona's technology eliminates the disposal process by reusing worn out tires cases. After the cases are inspected, buffed, balanced and reinforced, they are put in mold cure presses with additional, synthetic/natural rubber, heated to 350F, and pressed into tire forms with 200 pounds of pressure.

"The rubber is liquified with the heat," Katona said. "Everything is computer controlled." The tires cure in the molds for up to 30 minutes to an hour. The result, Katona says, is a new tire equal in quality to a brand-name tire - available to consumers at half the price.

"It's not retreading," Katona says. "It's re-manufacturing."

The re-manufactured tires are one solid unit of rubber, with no danger of separation. Katona described the environmental impact of the new technology as a three-fold benefit.

One tire may be re-manufactured more than once, extending its life three times over. The initial manufacture of an average new tire, he says, uses 7.5 gallons of crude oil. "So that's an energy savings, too," he says. Because of the positive environmental impact, Katona is hoping the government will contribute some of the $3 per tire environmental tax consumers pay on new tires to his company. Currently manufacturing 100 tires every day bearing the brand names "Cougar" (for passengar cars) and "Tiger" (for trucks), Katona is hoping to triple in size over the next five years. His customers are members of the general public but he's working on some bigger contracts and custom orders. Volume buyers, he says, can have custom tires done bearing their own name.

"The biggest market is the U.S. because there is a presidential mandate for the Us government to use ecological products," he says.

Katona will run out of old tires before he runs out of customers. 6925 176th St. Surrey location is open for walk-in tours to see the machines in action.

Franchising Information

We offer unique, low-cost setup, high returns, full support without ongoing financial obligations. Enquires should be directed to Alpar Katona via email or phone at (604) 338-8504.

Recently, Katona Canada licensed the technology rights to Ecotech Industries for the USA.