Shareholders Newsletter:
May 4, 1999
Dear Shareholder:
It is with great pride that I report to you on the newest operating
Titan plant in Taiwan. I was in Taiwan two weeks ago and came away astonished at what our Korean licensees were able to accomplish in just a few short weeks. The Taiwan plant became fully operational on March 1, 1999 and the byproducts are testing at a very high quality. The plant is basically the same as the two Titan plants in South Korea , but is much more automated. A 6th auger has been installed, adding additional residence time to the product. Also added is a backup turbo pump,and a filter and condenser. The plant was built inside an existing building and is set on three different levels. It is not only a flawless state of the art installation but very picturesque as well.
The plant's esthetics have taken advantage of the beautiful Taiwanese countryside to produce a real showplace that we are very proud of.
During my visit to Taiwan, I also met with President Yen Lin, from the
Taiwan plant, and we discussed plans for a second and possibly third plant to be constructed in Taiwan.
I also want to report on the Austrian project. Last fall, at the
request of Josef Steiner, we called a special meeting so that he could bring you up to date on the fact that the Austrian plant had
received all necessary government clearance and that construction was
under way. Also attending the meeting with Mr. Steiner was Karl Fraisl, Director of Appel, the group that was constructing
the buildings, a government official from the Lower Austrian Government, and a representative from Skoda in the Czech Republic. On his return to Austria, Josef Steiner found himself in
personal financial and legal trouble and as a result the Austrian
project came to a halt. Since that incident we have dissolved all contracts with Mr. Steiner's Austrian company, have found a new
group that is willing to take over the existing land and continue
construction and we have started negotiations with Skoda Klatovy's new management for a construction contract. Yesterday I
received a call informing me that the new President of Skoda will be
here in May to tour our facilities and finalize a construction contract.
I have received letters and telephone calls from many of you, expressing frustration about the length of time it has taken Titan to achieve its objectives and also because you hear from us so
infrequently. I apologize for the length of time between our reports
to you, but, because of the length of time it takes to complete a project, and because I do not want to mislead you by reporting information not yet solidified, there will continue to be long
periods of time when there is nothing new to report. However, I will tell you what we have done, what we are doing, and
what we plan to do.
As other companies, who tried to emulate Titan, have all fallen by the
wayside, I can say with complete confidence that Titan has the only technology available that can demonstrably and
economically recycle tires, plastic fiber and electronic materials, as
proven by the three commercial plants in existence. Beside the initial R&D plant built in Oklahoma, we have built a
portable R&D unit which processes volume material that we use for
experiments. We have two patents, on our process, that were issued last year. Several million dollars in Government grant
money have been spent in developing the plastic technology which we will be ready to market in the near future.
The pilot plants, the patents, R&D research and testing, sales material, independent laboratory testing, accounting and legal expenses are all paid and Titan has no debt. To date, I do not know
of a single company that has come close to accomplishing what Titan has done.
Our engineers are working full time at the research lab, where most of
their attention has been focused on the plastics recycling research, and Dr. Allred has been lecturing on plastics recycling
in this country and abroad. Titan also has an Economic Impact Study,
using the wastestream of just 50% of scrap tires, mixed electronics and automobile fluff, for the United States and Europe.
It entails about 4 billion dollars of construction that could generate
about 2 billion dollars per year in profits. More and more major financial institutions and large manufacturing companies are
beginning to contact us expressing interest in our technology and our
company and we will continue to inform and educate until we can ferret out the major players
Profound technological change is one of the greatest investment
opportunities possible. For instance, the personal computer in the 1970's, then video cassette in the 1980's and the compact
disc in the early 1990's. All were revolutions that swept away previous technology, creating multibillion dollar corporations in the process. In a matter of a few short years, investors realized
gains that surpassed the century-long advance of the Dow. This the
awesome investment power of new technology. Now think of all the resources locked up in the millions of tons of waste tires, electronics and automobiles that hit the dumps each year, and
that Titan is able to recover. I leave the potential to your own imagination.
For a long time, as pioneers in a virgin industry, I have had tremendous challenges, and without a
model to imitate, I sometimes make good decisions, sometimes not so
good, but I remain as committed to you today as I was ten years ago. I fully intend for Titan to make the history books
as the first, valid, tertiary recycling company in the world.
Very sincerely yours,
Ronald L. Wilder
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