Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis or Plan of Operation.
A. Results of Operations
Garb Oil & Power Corporation (the "Company") is in the business of
developing and marketing processes which will recover crumb rubber or
other recyclable rubber, oil by-products, commercially marketable char
and steel from scrap tires, a system and process to recover, repair and
market truck tires of all sizes, market new tires imported for sale
through distributors and market processes which will utilize scrap
tires and/or municipal waste to generate steam for the production of
electricity. During 1999, the Company acquired certain assets from its
sister corporation Garbalizer Machinery Corporation, including the
rights to manufacture and sell Garbalizer tire shredders. The Company
has designed a system that in its opinion is capable of recovering
rubber from used large, off-the-road (OTR) tires. The Company has the
rights to act as the non-United States agent for a third party's
unproven technology for the remediation of radioactive wastes and
exclusive rights to build its plants in the United States and abroad.
The Company is in the development stage. The Company received revenues
during the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2004 and at the end of the
period its current liabilities exceeded its total assets by
approximately $1,760,391. The Company continues, as it has done in
recent years, to actively pursue sales of its OTR Tire Disintegrator
System, Garbalizer tire shredders and crumb rubber plants. These
activities resulted in one sale of tires in fiscal 2002, which were
delivered in July 2003, and one sale in the current quarter. The
company is currently under contract to construct two shredders which
are currently being built and may be delivered in the current fiscal
year. The Company has limited financial resources, and it may not be
able to continue in business if it does not receive significant
additional cash from operations or financing activities. The Company
cannot give assurances that its plans to generate cash will be
successful.
The Company's predecessor, Garb-Oil Corporation, was incorporated and
commenced business on September 11, 1972, under the laws of the State
of Utah. The Company changed its name to Garb Oil & Power Corporation
in 1985.
OTR Tire Processing System
The Company has designed a system known as the OTR Tire Disintegrator
System which it believes will be capable of recovering used rubber from
large, off-the-road (OTR) tires. The Company has substantially
completed the engineering and design of the OTR Tire Disintegrator
System, but to date has not constructed a commercially operating
system. Currently the company is in discussions with a company,
(INTERPIPE) located in the Ukraine, who has indicated an interest in
completing the development of the OTR Tire Processing System for
marketing in Eastern Europe. If an agreement is reached, the Company
would retain marketing rights for North America where the process would
be marketed by the Company.
Although such discussions are underway there is no assurance that the
discussions will result in an Agreement between the two companies or
that the process would be successful if constructed by INTERPIPE.
Commercially available tire shredders, including shredders made by the
Company, are designed to process standard automobile, truck tires and
some OTR tires, which may include semi-trailer or over-the-road tires.
Tires used in a variety of off the road equipment, such as graders,
bulldozers, mining equipment, etc. cannot be processed directly by
these shredders. Although these tires, which may weigh from 400 pounds
to 9 tons each, are less numerous than standard tires, the Company
estimates that over 2,600,000 tons of OTR tires of all sizes require
disposal in the United States each year. Current methods of disposal
include land filling and surface disposal, which are accepted only due
to the lack of a viable alternative. Most states have passed laws
prohibiting land filling or storage of whole tires.
The OTR Tire Disintegrator System uses mechanical means to remove the
exterior rubber from OTR tire carcasses without shredding. After
removal of non-rubber components, primary shredding and wire
separation, the resulting particles are then processed into crumb
rubber during secondary processing. The shredded particles could also
be used as fuel or safely disposed of in a landfill, although the
Company believes that the rubber particles will be of such high quality
that landfill disposal or use as fuel will be unnecessary or desirable.
The Company has prepared what it believes to be the final design of the
OTR Tire Disintegrator System and has analyzed its expected
performance. When the first OTR Tire Disintegrator System is built, it
is expected that only slight modifications to the design could be
required to maximize performance. It is also possible, although the
Company does not anticipate this, that the OTR Tire Disintegrator
System will not perform as planned when built.
The Company has received United States Patent No. 5,299,748 on the OTR
Tire Disintegrator System design which expires April 5, 2011, Patent
No. 5,590,838 which expires January 7, 2014 and patent number 6,015,105
which expires January 18, 2018. An additional patent improvement has
been filed and is currently pending in the United States. The pending
patent improvement was granted in Canada on July 6, 1999 as Canadian
Patent No. 2,178,326 which expires March 23, 2015 and an additional
patent is pending.
The Company announced the availability of the OTR Tire Disintegrator
System in July, 1992. Although the Company has received and continues
to receive numerous inquiries from potential buyers or users of the OTR
Tire Disintegrator System, it has not built or sold an OTR Tire
Disintegrator System. The Company's original intent was to retain
ownership of the OTR Tire Disintegrator System, allowing its use by
persons who purchase an exclusive territory from the Company and who
agree to pay the Company a share of any profits earned. However, the
Company has decided to modify its requirements to allow others to
purchase and use the technology and machinery on a license and royalty
based upon gross sales.
Shredding Systems
On March 19, 1999, the Company acquired a patented shredding system
from its sister company, Garbalizer Machinery Corporation ("GMC"). See
"Certain Relationships and Related Transactions". This system became
available when GMC merged with a Canadian Internet company, changed its
name to RecycleNet, Inc. and ceased its shredder business.
The Company acquired from GMC all of its then existing assets,
including the Garbalizer name and logo, patents, machinery designs and
contract rights in exchange for assumption of all then existing
indebtedness of GMC in the approximate amount of $500,000.
The system known as the "Garbalizer Shredder" has a thirty-year history
of shredding automobile and truck tires in the United States, Canada
and Europe. During this period of time, GMC acquired fourteen U.S., and
six foreign patents all of which have expired except U.S. patent number
4927088 which expires on May 22, 2007.
The Garbalizer Shredder employs a cutting method rather than the impact
method embodied in hammer mills and grinders. This cutting method
consists of a rotatable shaft or pair of shafts, supported by bearings,
upon which are fixed a series of blade holders at 120(Degree) or
180(Degree) intervals around the shaft. The blade holders to which
blades are attached are positioned along the length of the shaft so
that their tips form a helix which tends to position the tires for
cutting.
Spacers to which no cutting blades are attached are located between
each blade holder mounted on the rotatable shaft so that the rotating
blades and the spacers form the cutting mechanism of the Garbalizer
Shredder when co-acting with stationary blade holders.
The shredding mechanism for all of the electric-driven models is
protected by fluid couplings, torque limiting couplings and overload
relays in the electrical control system. If non-shreddable material is
encountered within the Garbalizer Shredders, the torque limiting or
fluid coupling and relays stop the machines and protect the Garbalizer
Shredders from serious damage. The rotatable shaft or shafts are driven
by an electric motor or diesel electric system through a system of gear
reducers. The diesel electric-driven mobile Garbalizer Shredder is
protected from non-shreddable items by similar couplings and overload
relays that stop the Garbalizer Shredder if it becomes overloaded or
jammed. If this happens on any of the Garbalizer Shredders, it is
simple to reverse the rotor and remove from the Garbalizer Shredder the
item or items that jammed or stopped the machine. This and several
additional unique and beneficial features of the Garbalizer Shredder
reduces the time and effort required for maintenance.
In operation, material to be shredded is placed on a conveyor and
carried to the top of the hopper where it falls by gravity upon the
rotating blade or blades or can be fed directly into the cutters by a
patented controlled feeding system. The rotating blades position the
material and cut it as it is forced between the stationary blades. The
shredded material is then transported away from the machine by conveyor
to be used as tire derived fuel (TDF), crumb rubber production or other
processes that use shredded tires.
The Garbalizer Shredders are offered in mobile and stationary models of
various capacities.
The Company believes that acquisition of the Garbalizer Shredder system
and related marketable items from GMC will benefit the Company by
allowing it to quote complete recycling systems more economically and
efficiently.
There are a number of companies that sell competitive products. The
Company believes that the design of the Garbalizer Shredders is
equivalent or superior to competitive designs. Some of the competitors
are larger and better financed than the Company, and the Company
believes certain competitors may have a competitive advantage on the
sale of stand-alone shredders with respect to marketing prowess,
financing terms, cost and perceived customer support.
Historically, GMC had determined that it could manufacture the
Garbalizer Shredders more economically on a contract basis with local
machine shops in lieu of its own manufacturing facilities and
personnel. The company has now discovered that the shredders can be
built much more economically outside of the United States and would
give the company better advantage to compete with larger and better
financed competitors. The Company has investigated this potential and
decided that future shredders should be constructed outside of the
United States to give the Company more flexibility in marketing.
During the third quarter of 2001 the Company began a new marketing
strategy to market its products. The Company began, and is still
continuing to establish distributorships in the United States and
Internationally. As of March 31, 2004 the Company has established
Distributorships in New Jersey with National Recycling Corporation that
covers a three state area, New Jersey, New York and Delaware, a
Distributorship in Virginia with Minority Tire Reclamation, Inc. that
covers Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland, and another
Distributorship in Virginia which covers other areas in Florida,
Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West
Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware, District of Columbia,
New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts,
Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The Company will continue searching
for dependable Companies to establish Distributorships throughout all
of North America. Internationally the Company has concluded an
Agreement with Micron SA of Odessa, Ukraine to manufacture and market
its Shredders and other Technology throughout Eastern and Western
Europe. All Machines and Equipment for the European Market will be
manufactured by Micron on a licensed basis and marketed jointly by
Garb-Oil and Micron throughout the European market area. The Company
has concluded a Distributorship with Representaciones Internacionales
of Guadalajara, Mexico for all of South and Central America.
All machines, Equipment and Technology for the South and Central
America Distributorship will be manufactured in Mexico on a license
basis with the marketing being done jointly by Garb-Oil and
Representaciones Internacionales. It is anticipated and planned that
all items sold by Garb-Oil Distributorships in the United States and
Canada will be manufactured in Mexico. The Company has concluded a
Distributorship with The Princeton Group of Alhambra, CA for all of
Asia. Machines, Equipment and Technology for the Asian market area will
be manufactured in China. Certain Technology and Machinery owned by the
Chinese Manufacturer for crumb rubber processing will be manufactured
in China and purchased by Garb-Oil to be sold in all of the marketing
areas inside and outside of the Asian market area. Because of the NAFTA
Agreement and other International Agreements currently existing, the
Company is now able to establish these Distributorship agreements and
contractually protect its technology and proprietary rights. These
Agreements give the Company access to less expensive manufacturing and
technology, which Management believes will make the Company more
competitive and generate sales on a worldwide basis. As of March 31,
2004, the company management has determined that the company should
take advantage of the benefits of such manufacturing and marketing in
future Company operations.
The Garbalizer Shredder takes approximately four to five months to
construct. It is manufactured and assembled from stock alloy steel,
gear reducers, drive units and motors. Any heavy equipment machine shop
with standard machine technology can manufacture the shaft, blade
holders, blades, spacers, hopper, structural frame and supports for the
Garbalizer Shredder from standard alloy steel stock. The gear reducer,
bearings, electric motor and related drive components are standard
items available from several suppliers. The completed components are
assembled into major units for shipping to the installation site by
sea, truck or railroad flat car. At the site, the major units can be
field assembled with local construction or rigging workers who need
have no previous experience with the Garbalizer Shredder. Location of
the manufacturing facilities in close geographical proximity to the
installation sites of potential customers, is not considered by
management to be a significant factor.
Crumb Rubber Plants
The Company markets plants and equipment to process scrap passenger car
and light truck tires into crumb rubber. The Company is marketing such
plants worldwide on a "turn-key" basis. The equipment for such plants
will include third party equipment, equipment made to the Company's
specifications, shredders and other items provided by the Company. The
new marketing strategy currently being established by the Company has
made available crumb rubber technology which heretofore was not
available to the Company.
If the Company is successful in selling a crumb rubber plant, it will
be exposed to the risks of process engineering and equipment
manufacturing concerns, including potential contract, warranty and
liability claims. The Company has limited experience in engineering for
or constructing crumb rubber plants. The Company relies on third
parties including engineers and sub-contractors for the supply of a
majority of the equipment in the plant and the actual assembly and
construction labor.
Trenergy Radioactive Waste Technology
On May 11, 1998, the Company entered into a Project Development and
Construction Agreement with Trenergy Inc. ("Trenergy"). Pursuant to the
Trenergy Agreement, the Company has been engaged to provide consulting
and analysis regarding the potential commercial application of
Trenergy's unproven claimed technology to neutralize and remediate
radioactive waste.
Trenergy has reported to the Company that the Trenergy technology has
the potential of neutralizing radioactive waste. The Company has not
verified Trenergy's claims. If true, Trenergy's technology would
involve a substantial departure from current methodology and currently
accepted scientific principles. Trenergy has informed the Company that
it has applied for a patent on the Trenergy technology. Filing of a
patent application does not indicate that any third party has verified
the validity of the technology.
The Trenergy Agreement is for a five-year term with renewal provisions
and gives the Company the right to build all systems and plants for
Trenergy on a cost plus basis which cannot exceed similar costs for
similar projects. The Company is designated as Trenergy's exclusive
agent to exploit the Trenergy technology outside of the United States
with the exception of the Republic of Belarus, Ukraine, Romania,
Macedonia, Greece and Hungary. Trenergy and the Company intend to
equally share license revenues from potential licenses of the Trenergy
technology in the Company's territory; provided that Trenergy may
negotiate the Company's compensation for licenses where Trenergy had
initial discussions with the licensee. No licenses for the Trenergy
technology have been granted as of the date of this report and it is
possible such licenses may not be granted in the future.
Trenergy may not be able to establish the scientific validity or
commercial viability of the Trenergy technology. Neither Trenergy nor
the Company have the resources necessary to develop or evaluate the
Trenergy technology without infusion of substantial capital or the
joint venturing with third parties. Neither Trenergy nor the Company
have any such arrangements in place. The Company plans to use
management time and financial resources pursuing possible transactions
with the Trenergy technology for which the Company may receive no
revenue. During the years 1998, 1999 and 2000 Trenergy has continued
research on the process but at March 31, 2004, had not completed the
"hot test" which would further prove if the process could be viable. As
of March 31, 2004, the "hot test" had not been completed by Trenergy
and no date has been given the Company as to when such test would be
completed.
UTTI Tire Repair and Resale Business
The Company's efforts have historically focused on reducing the
environmental problems of disposing of used tires by creating fuel,
power or useful by-products from the tires. Although such efforts have
not resulted in commercial operations, the Company's management has
gained extensive knowledge of the used tire distribution and disposal
business through such efforts. On May 20, 1994 the Company formed Utah
Truck Tires, Inc. ("UTTI") as a majority owned subsidiary to exploit
the perceived demand for repaired and retreaded commercial truck tires.
Although UTTI did demonstrate that there was a demand for these used
tires, UTTI incurred operating losses due principally to overhead costs
and high carcass costs. The Company believes that the repair and resale
business could be commercially viable if operated in conjunction with a
recycling plant, where overhead costs can be shared with other
operations and usable carcasses obtained at relatively low cost. In
1996, UTTI ceased active operations and as of March 31, 2004, both the
Company and UTTI have decided that future operations for UTTI probably
would not be re-started.
The Company is proposing to establish used tire processing and sales
joint ventures with purchasers of tire shredders or OTR Tire
Disintegrator Systems in the United States, to date the Company does
not have any agreements to establish such joint ventures. As with any
start-up operation, there is substantial uncertainty regarding its
ability to operate at a profit.
The Company owns 55% of UTTI, which interest it received in exchange
for guaranteeing the loan for startup capital, its expertise and other
intangible capital contributions. The remaining 45% of UTTI is owned by
an investor who loaned $165,000 of seed capital to UTTI and who is an
officer and director of UTTI.
Co-generation and Electrical Power Generation
Since 1982, the Company has been involved in planning and preparation
for plants generating electricity or process steam to be fueled by
scrap tires. The Company may build such plants alone or in joint
venture with others. During the past fiscal year, the Company has
concentrated its efforts on other aspects of its business and has held
only very preliminary discussions regarding the possibility of
construction of such plants. To date the Company has not built a plant.
However, with the current and projected acute energy shortage,
management now believes that this technology is timely and has an
improved potential for development.
The design, which the Company developed for these plants calls for
scrap tires to be shredded into hand sized pieces. The shredded tires
are then burned in a fluidized bed combustor to produce steam, which
may be used for the generation of electricity or may be used as process
steam in nearby industrial plants.
Pyrolysis
The pyrolysis patents granted the Company has expired and the Company
has decided at this time no further research would be warranted. The
Company concluded that although the process worked the markets for such
plants are financially unfeasible at this time.
Patents, Trademarks and Proprietary Data
The Company has received two United States patents on the OTR Tire
Disintegrator System design. The patents expire in the year 2011, 2014
and 2018. One patent has been issued in Canada that expires in 2015.
Additional patents are pending in the United States and Canada.
The Company does not hold patents on the plant and process to be used
in connection with its proposed electricity, co-generation plants or
nuclear remediation.
In connection with the Garbalizer Shredder design, the Company owns
United States patent number 4,927,088 that expires May 22, 2007 and
Canadian patent number 1,137,949 that expired December 21, 1999.
In addition to the above patents, the Company has the following patents
which relate to Tar Sand development:
Hydropulper & Classifier for
Tar Sand Application Patent No. 3,814,336
Improvement Patents for Tar Sands Patent No. 4,361,476
|
Process
The Company plans to exploit these patents if and when the board of
directors of the Company determines that the financing and timing is
appropriate. It is not expected that such exploitation will occur in
the foreseeable future and accordingly the patents have not been
considered important to the Company's immediate future.
Employees
The Company's president, John C. Brewer, it's Chief Engineer and
Secretary each devote 40 hours, or more, per week to the Company's
business. All additional work is performed on a sub-contract basis.
UTTI currently has no employees and has no plans to hire employees in
the foreseeable future.
Additional personnel will be required when the Company expands its
business or enters into agreements for construction of power plants,
crumb rubber and OTR plants. The Company does not anticipate problems
in finding suitable additional personnel.
The Company believes its relationship with its employees to be good.
The Company is not a party to any collective bargaining agreement.
Research and Development
During the periods ended March 31, 2004 and 2003, the Company has not
expended any funds on research and development activities.
Environmental Regulation
Neither the Company nor UTTI believe that any of its activities result
in harmful discharge of pollutants in the air, water or soil. Any power
plants built by the Company in the future utilizing tires as fuel will
be required to comply with state and federal regulations regarding the
discharge of pollutants into the atmosphere. The Company believes that
the plants can comply with such regulations.
B. Liquidity, Cash Flow and Capital Resources
$12,000 of wages payable to the company's President were accrued,
rather than paid, during the period.
At March 31, 2004, the Company had a deficit in working capital of
$1,760,391 and a current ratio (current assets to current liabilities)
of approximately .02367. At June 30, 2003, the Company had a deficit in
working capital of $1,570,940 and a current ratio of approximately
.00019.
Other than its short time office lease and accounts payable, the
company is not subject to any material commitments for capital
expenditures.
Forward Looking Statement.
Statements made in this Form 10-QSB which are not purely historical are
forward-looking statements with respect to the goals, plan objectives,
intentions, expectations, financial condition, results of operations, future
performance and business of the Company, including, without limitation, (i) the
success of our research and development efforts; our ability to develop
acceptable products; our ability to raise capital; and the growth in demand for
new and advanced semiconductor materials; and (ii) statements preceded by,
followed by or that include the words "may", "would", "could", "should",
"expects", "projects", "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "plans",
"intends", "targets" or similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and
important factors (many of which are beyond the Company's control) that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the
forward-looking statements, including the following, in addition to those
contained in the Company's reports on file with the Securities and Exchange
Commission: general economic or industry conditions, nationally and/or in the
communities in which the Company conducts business; changes in the interest rate
environment; legislation or regulatory requirements; conditions of the
securities markets; the development of materials and/or products that may be
superior to the materials and products developed by the Company; demand for the
Company's materials and products; competition; changes in the quality or
composition of the Company's materials and products; our ability to raise
capital; changes in accounting principles, policies or guidelines; financial or
political instability; acts of war or terrorism; and other economic,
competitive, governmental, regulatory and technical factors affecting the
Company's operations, materials, products, services and prices.
Accordingly, results actually achieved may differ materially from expected
results in these statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the
date they are made. The Company does not undertake, and specifically disclaims,
any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances occurring after the date of such statements.