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International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) announced the press release for the collaboration with Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU) to support research on sustainability in the rubber industry. The collaboration involves: - Research on Impact of Climate Change on the rubber industry - Developing a white paper based on the IRSG statistical model - Further collaborations in the pipeline to track traceability and sustainability in the rubber supply chain.

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.

The recent news from Continental – a prominent tire manufacturer – proves that the industry is expected to becoming more sustainable which, in turn, will affect tire recycling industry as well. In late June 2020, Continental received the Red Dot Design Award for Urban Taraxagum – bicycle tires made from dandelion rubber. Moreover, the tire manufacturer recently made a very positive announcement related to sustainability. Now that Claus Petschick heads new Sustainability department, sustainable management is expected to become an integral part of Continental’s “Vision 2030” strategy program. Besides, the company will continue engaging in consistent research and development of new technologies, alternative materials and environmentally friendly production processes in the tire sector.

On September 6, 2021, Continental reported it is unveiling its innovative Conti GreenConcept tire concept at this year’s IAA MOBILITY. This conceptual study by the premium tire manufacturer leverages both current and emerging technological approaches to the engineering of sustainable tires for passenger cars, as yet another example of Continental’s wide-ranging activities in pursuit of sustainability. The goal of Continental’s integrative and sustainable concept: minimizing resource consumption across every link in the tire’s value chain. As such, the study addressed everything from the sourcing and procurement of raw materials on to the various stages of production and even on up to ways of extending the tire’s service life. Continental’s development engineers and materials experts rose to the occasion and found novel solutions to each of these three challenges. The result: a tire that consists of a particularly high percentage of traceable, renewable, and recycled materials, has an innovative, lightweight design that conserves valuable resources, and extended service life thanks to a renewable tread.

The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) revealed in its new report on the NR trends observed in March this year that the global manufacturing dropped slightly over 5 percent. In overall, the production of NR was estimated at 2.989 million tons. This declining trend was attributed to cold weather and predominantly low rubber prices set in a number of countries by agrarians. Moreover, the report mentioned leaf fall disease that targeted South Sumatra alleging that this could have negatively impacted the NR production.

On June 9, the Tyre and Rubber Recycling magazine published an article about the European Chemical Agency recommending restrictions on crumb rubber. The Magazine highlights that it is not usually given to speculation on leaks, but this is a case where Tyre and Rubber Recycling feels a need to highlight an issue. The material below contains citations from the article by Ewan Scott. Please read the original version here.

You read that right. From dandelion. So far, rubber tires have been made of caoutchouc. However, the extraction of this rare raw material in the tropical regions of our planet is a burden on the environment. In its latest press release, AZuR reported that The Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster and the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology are currently researching how the advantages of natural rubber can be produced on a sustainable basis in the future.

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 Renewable Transport Fuel Association of the UK (RTFA) reports that its thirteen members and Tyre Recovery Association (TRA) of the UK have built a collaboration to promote greater uptake of pyrolysis, an advanced chemical recycling technology. To achieve this, they are funding a consultancy to contribute to the Environment Agency’s review of recovery options for end-of-life tires. Specifically, the group is seeking to demonstrate that pyrolysis is a sufficiently thorough and environmentally-safe process, and that the products should be classified as resources, not waste.