Italian bicycle tire manufacturer Vittoria just announced the opening of a new factory in Thailand dedicated to the production of cotton tubular and clincher bicycle tires.
The EUR 20 million (USD 21 million) investment will expand the Vittoria Tires Thailand (VTT) factory premises grow from 36,000 to 51.000 square meters in the Bangpoo industrial district, near the current VTT headquarters. The 10,000 square meters plant will employ approximately 200 people in workspaces designed to provide a modern working environment.
Vittoria claims this is the world’s first carbon-neutral operations factory of bicycle tires. The new Vittoria Cotton Tires Factory features electric vulcanization processes, solar panels on the rooftop, reliance on renewable energy, paperless operations, electric automated guided vehicles, and carbon credits. These practices have earned the new factory the CarbonNeutral® operations certification.
This accreditation, awarded by CarbonNeutral certifier Climate Impact Partners, recognizes that Vittoria has met the provisions of The CarbonNeutral Protocol – an open-source standard and guide developed for business that draws together leading independent standards for greenhouse gas accounting into a practical guide to carbon neutrality.
The new facility will be dedicated to the production of premium cotton bicycle tires used by professional and amateur cyclists around the world, such as Vittoria Corsa PRO – the most advanced road bicycle tire, winner of the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, Vuelta a España, and the World Championship.
The building will also give birth to the most sustainable tire ever made that will be released into the gravel segment in spring 2024. This new “green” tire will be Vittoria’s first bicycle tire ever built with renewable and recycled materials. With this project, Vittoria aims to modernize bicycle tire production by relying less on fossil-based and non-renewable materials.
(Source: Vittoria)
