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The IRC2023 (International Rubber Conference 2023) concluded successfully in Haikou, China, from November 7th to 9th, 2023. Liqun Zhang, the chairman of IRC2023, hosted the opening ceremony and highlighted the significance of low-carbon and intelligent technologies in the rubber industry. The event attracted over 1,000 delegates from 20 countries. During the opening ceremony on November 7th, 12 presentations were delivered at the main theater, featuring academic achievements in areas such as rubber technology innovation, bio-based materials, special functional materials, natural rubber substitutes, and the rubber recycling economy.

The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) releases the Monthly Natural Rubber (NR) Statistical Report, September-October 2023 (combined issues). During this period of September and October, the snapshot of the recent trend of global NR market are available at ANRPC’s website. The escalation of geopolitical tensions and adverse weather conditions, particularly during the monsoon season in NR-producing countries, such as Thailand, have played a pivotal role in shaping market sentiment.

Continental continues to step up its activities to ensure a circular economy. Recently, the tire manufacturer added recovered carbon black (rCB) to its newly produced Super Elastic solid tires at its tire plant in Korbach, Germany, thus reducing the use of fossil raw materials and CO2 emissions. Solid tires such as Continental’s SC20+ already contain around 60 percent renewable and recycled materials thanks to their high natural rubber content. By 2050 at the latest, Continental aims to use 100 percent sustainable materials in its tire products.

Sometimes it makes sense to periodically sift through your personal library (even though that's primarily done electronically these days). When you browse around, some things come to light that are worth not forgetting, such as a conference paper that was published exactly 30 years ago in August 1993. “A multiple-product approach to the processing of used tires” (Michal A. Serio, et al., 1993) is a remarkably accurate vision of chemical recycling of end-of-life tires (ELTs), as it is experiencing a boom in the last few years. The authors presented their well-founded proposals for sustainable recycling of ELTs through pyrolysis at a conference of the American Chemical Society (ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry) in the USA. About 20 years later, namely in 2011, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) within the framework of the Basel Convention (191 signatory states) approved the chemical recycling of ELTs by pyrolysis as Environmental Sound Management (ESM). This classification was subsequently also included in the European regulations. In this exposé of the remarkably visionary work, the original text is quoted and only occasionally an outdated term is replaced by the one used today. Replacements and comments are in Italic. This paper by Michal A. Serio and colleagues could just as well have been written today.

The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) released the Monthly Natural Rubber (NR) Statistical Report, July 2023. The global production of NR witnessed a 2.1% growth amounting close to 1.3 million tons, while global demand of NR posted a relatively faster growth at 3.2% to 1.3 million tons during the month of July. The market's heightened sensitivity to cautious market circumstances, combined with growing fears about China's economic slowdown, continuous Federal Reserve rate hikes, and geopolitical tensions, hindered this near-market-equilibrium development from driving the prospects of the NR market.

The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) is organizing its 13th Annual Rubber Conference, Opening Session of 45th ANRPC Assembly and 6th ANRPC Public-Private Meet at Radisson Blu Hotel, Guwahati, India on 9 and 10 October 2023 (Monday and Tuesday). This event is hosted by the Rubber Board of India, Government of India. The one-day conference, with the theme “Natural Rubber Industry: Challenges and Policy Options in the 21st Century”, will provide an international meeting point and a platform for meaningful interactions and networking among rubber industry players, policy makers, researchers, and commodity analysts across countries.

Wastefront AS, the Norwegian waste tire recycling company, announced a strategic partnership with global energy storage infrastructure provider VTTI, for investment of up to USD 43 million and an agreement to reach a final investment decision for eight global sites within a five year period. VTTI – backed by leading energy and infrastructure players Vitol, IFM Investors and ADNOC (the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) – is one of the world’s largest independent energy storage infrastructure providers with key locations around the world. The investment in Wastefront and planned investments in future plants are part of VTTI’s global growth strategy in which circular products are an important pillar, with an ambition to conduct more than 50% of its activities in new and transitional energy sources by 2028.

Pyrum Innovations AG (Pyrum), a pioneering company that recycles end-of-life tires sustainably with its globally patented, unique pyrolysis technology, and the bicycle tire manufacturer Ralf Bohle GmbH (Schwalbe brand) have developed the world's first bicycle tire made from recycled tires. Pyrum's Green Marathon uses 100% recycled carbon black (rCB), which is a direct product of the recycling process and replaces fossil carbon black. The production of the innovative bicycle tire saves more than a third of CO2eQ compared to the previous model. To determine the CO2 savings, a detailed Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) of both models was calculated and evaluated according to the current IPCC AR6 standard (GWP 100, excl. biogenic CO2).

The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) releases the Monthly NR Statistical Report, May 2023. According to ANRPC, as the tapping activities resumed, the global output increased by 0.3% in May to 1.006 million tons. Despite sluggish output growth, global NR consumption increased by 3.5% year-on-year to 1.272 million tons.