Established in 1970 in Varazdin, Croatia, Gumiimpex-GRP began its story as a small tyre repair workshop. Throughout the years, a small family business has grown into a regional tyre recycling leader
Today, Gumiimpex-GRP is a key player in the tyre industry in Croatia and the region. The company is the only recycler in the country doing material recovery, making it a true circular economy company with activities in many connected areas.
The company’s significant expansion began in 2003, when they built a new facility to store tyres and produce rubber materials. In 2011, the company further expanded its facility in Trnovac Bartolovecki. A couple of years later, in 2011, the company invested in the compounding line. Since 2014, Gumiimpex-GRP has owned a mixer for crude rubber compounds, manufacturing their own compounds of various rubber materials.
Five years later in 2016, the company built a new tyre dealership in Zagreb and in 2017, they opened a new logistics centre, expanding their production area and making new investments in the manufacturing process.
Apart from being the country’s leading tyre supplier for various kinds of vehicles, Gumiimpex-GRP has put sustainable development to the core of its business and today, the company produces more than 7,000 rubber technical products, including conveyor belts and multi-layer drive belts, GASKET and SEAL JET flat seals, polyurethane products, and more, using its own compound in the production process.
Gumiimpex-GRP also operates a retreading plant which works with Goodyear as a Goodyear Authorised Retreader (GAR), using the NEXT TREAD tyre retreading system, making it the only NEXT TREAD partner in Croatia. The company also works with Michelin, using the RECAMIC tyre retreading system and is also the only RECAMIC partner in Croatia.
It is safe to say that Croatia has one of the best waste tyre recycling systems in Europe, introduced in 2006, which helps recycle more than 90% of used tyres for material recovery. This number surpasses the national target of 80%. In 2020 alone, almost 28.5 tonnes of tyres were put in the Croatian market, with 88% of those collected and 83% processed. As much as 96% of the processed tyres were used for material recovery.
When it comes to tyre recycling at Gumiimpex-GRP, the story began in 2005 when the company became the first company in Croatia to recycle waste car tyres, with a goal to reduce the environmental impact while reusing rubber properties. The company is currently the only company in Croatia that does mechanical recycling.
The company’s tyre recycling facility produces wheels made from recycled tyres, rubber tiles, wet pour flooring and rubber granulate and mulch. The majority of these products are further exported throughout Europe, including the UK, Switzerland, Germany, etc.
