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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.

The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) recently published a press release about its organizing the 12th edition of its Annual Rubber Conference on October 7, 2019. The Government of Indonesia is hosting the conference in Yogyakarta. In its press release, ANRPC highlights that the smallholder-dominated natural rubber (NR) production sector has limitations to adopt the sustainability norms for NR which are initiated and largely set by the automotive tire manufacturing industry.

The European Chemical Agency’s Risk Assessment Committee (RAC) is proposing an EU-wide ban on microplastics infill in sports and other play surfaces from 2028 due to ‘possible’ environmental releases. Since our tyres contain a mixture of natural rubber and synthetic polymers (TDRM), these are deemed to have been intentionally introduced into infill materials. The ECHA further claims that 16,000 tonnes of this material is ‘released’ into the environment annually and constitutes its justification for the proposed ban.

Tyre Recycling Solutions SA. Switzerland (“TRS”) and Tengzhou SDS Star Smith Metal Products Co., Ltd. (滕州思达施密丝金属制品有限公司) (“SDS”) today concluded a joint venture agreement regarding Tyre Recycling Solutions China Jointco, Ltd., (“TRS China”) a consolidated subsidiary of TRS Switzerland. The venture will be established by TRS and SDS, under Chinese laws. The Parties intend to domicile JointCo in Tengzhou ( 滕 州 市 ) Economic Development Zone, Shandong Province, one of the nation’s clusters for the production of tyres. TRS shall be the majority owner with 67% (sixty- seven percent) of both the share capital and the voting rights. SDS SubCo shall own the balance of 33% (thirty-three percent).

Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. is doubling its rubber recycling capacity at the Morimachi Plant in central Japan to accelerate the recycling of rubber used in automobiles. While progress is being made in the recycling of resources such as steel and plastic in the automobile industry, the recycling of rubber products is difficult and almost all rubber waste is incinerated (utilization of heat). Toyoda Gosei began operations of its first recycling line in FY2021, using its proprietary devulcanization technology that can recycle rubber products into high quality raw materials. The company has been reusing the waste material generated in the production of products.