The Spanish Association of Recycled Tyres (AER) has launched its ‘Meet Our Members’ initiative with a profile of REDIGAL, Recauchutado y Distribución de Neumáticos Galicia, S.A., a retreading company based in Salvaterra de Miño, Pontevedra.
AER Member Feature: REDIGAL
REDIGAL produces around 850 retreads a month from its plant in Salvaterra de Miño, serving customers across Galicia, Asturias, and Portugal through its own collection network.
Established in 1995, REDIGAL has now been active in the tyre retreading sector for more than three decades. Serafín Carrero and Telmo Diz lead the company, which currently employs 15 people: nine in production, four in sales, and two in administration.
The company places particular emphasis on maintaining close relationships with its customers, identifying service, product quality, and responsiveness as central elements of the business.
“Seriousness and commitment to offer the best to our customers” is the phrase REDIGAL uses to describe its approach, while the company highlights proximity to customers as one of its main distinguishing characteristics.
Focus on Commercial Vehicle Retreading
REDIGAL specialises in cold retreading for vans, trucks, and buses, producing approximately 850 retreaded tyres each month.
Truck tyres make up the vast majority of production, accounting for around 91 per cent of monthly output. Van tyres make up approximately 6 per cent, while bus tyres account for the remaining 3 per cent. The retreading process begins with the initial inspection of the casing to determine whether it is suitable for further use. This is followed by buffing, repair and preparation work, application of the new tread, curing, and final inspection.
REDIGAL uses machinery with automated programmes to control different stages of production. The company also operates a computerised system that records the work carried out on each tyre, allowing it to maintain traceability from when a casing enters the factory through to its return to the customer.
Its main suppliers include EIB, Vipal, Kraiburg, Dobermann, Galgo, and REMA TIP TOP, which supply materials, consumables, and equipment used in its retreading operations.
Alongside retreading, REDIGAL is active in tyre repair and the distribution of both new and retreaded tyres, extending its service offering across a range of commercial vehicle applications.
REDIGAL operates across Galicia, Asturias, and Portugal, using its own vehicles to run established weekly collection routes.
The company’s trucks collect casings from tyre service businesses throughout these areas before returning them to the Salvaterra de Miño plant for inspection and processing. This collection network lets REDIGAL manage casing movement directly while maintaining regular contact with customers across its operating area. Once a casing has been accepted for retreading, it moves through the company’s production and traceability systems before the finished tyre is returned to service.
Investment in Production Equipment
REDIGAL is also preparing further investment in its production operations over the coming years.
The company plans to upgrade machinery used in the buffing and extrusion stages of the retreading process, continuing its investment in production efficiency and equipment modernisation.
These planned improvements build on REDIGAL’s existing use of automated machinery and digital traceability systems to monitor and control tyres as they move through the factory.
For REDIGAL, extending the useful life of a suitable casing remains one of the fundamental benefits of retreading. By retaining the casing and replacing the worn tread, the process reduces the requirement for new raw materials while returning an existing tyre asset to service.
REDIGAL’s operation illustrates that combination of technical processes, specialised labour, logistics, and customer service, with its 15-person workforce supporting production and sales across north-western Spain and Portugal.
Pressure from low-cost imports
Despite its established market presence, REDIGAL identifies weak demand for retreaded tyres and competition from lower-priced tyres imported from Asia as two of the main challenges. According to the company, these pressures limit growth opportunities and make maintaining employment more difficult.
REDIGAL is calling for greater institutional promotion of the applications and benefits of retreaded tyres, together with measures encouraging their use on public-service vehicles. The company also believes greater unity within the retreading sector is needed to communicate more effectively the industry’s technical, industrial, and circular-economy contributions.
AER says its ‘Meet Our Members’ initiative is intended to highlight the industrial and human element of the retreading sector by showing the work carried out inside member companies and the people responsible for it, inte ding to provide a platform for these experiences and challenges to be communicated to both the media and tyre industry professionals.
