The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced a new sustainable soybean oil procurement policy to show the responsible sourcing of raw materials.
The company says through this policy it can help guide processors, farmers and all other members of the supply chain to establish practices and make sound environmental and social decisions related to the growing, harvesting and processing of soybeans.
Goodyear says it is increasing its use of sustainable materials in its products, including soybean oil. Goodyear scientists and engineers – with the support from the United Soybean Board – developed a tread compound in which soybean oil replaced some or all petroleum-derived oil, discovering that soybean oil helps keep a tire’s rubber compound pliable in changing temperatures, the company says.
Goodyear commercialized this in its Assurance WeatherReady consumer tire line in 2017, the Eagle Enforcer All Weather in 2018, the Eagle Exhilarate in 2019 and the Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive in 2020.
Goodyear adds its 2020 use of soybean oil increased 73% over 2019 usage, making progress toward its long-term goal of full petroleum oil replacement in its products by 2040. Goodyear’s soybean oil procurement policy is effective immediately and applies to all soybean-based materials sourced by Goodyear operations worldwide.
The policy can be reviewed here.
