Is tire manufacturing becoming more environmentally-friendly? It might have to, since manufacturing supplies are becoming scarcer. Anticipating an eventual shortfall in raw materials, manufacturers are currently seeking out alternative solutions, like planting natural rubber trees.
China, with its soaring economic growth, is forever gobbling up more metric tons of rubber to manufacture new tires. Still, some of that rubber is salvaged from worn-out tires.
Manufacturers have no other choice but to invest big in greener practices. This is no longer merely a question of promoting a good corporate image, but of the very survival of the industry. And while most major manufacturers are backing rubber tree cultivation, some are already looking towards other alternatives.
Yokohama has recently used orange oil as an additive in its compounds. Others, walnut bark. Progressively, tire experts are researching alternative manufacturing materials, like Bridgestone Americas, which is putting its faith in dandelions as a high-quality renewable source of natural rubber.
In theory, there might be more than 1,200 types of plants which could produce natural rubber, but in practice, to produce the quality and the quantity of rubber necessary to meet today’s tire market requirements remains a challenge, according to Dr. Hiroshi Mouri, President, Bridgestone Americas Center for Research and Technology.
Dr. Mouri points out, “Bridgestone continues to dedicate considerable resources to find sustainable alternatives for the natural rubber necessary for tire manufacturing and for other high quality rubber products. We are delighted by this recent discovery, highlighting the potential of the Russian dandelion.
