Several tiremakers have expressed their interest utilizing natural rubber sourced from guayule and Russian dandelions, but Apollo Vredestein announced it has actually produced tires containing such materials. 
The company says the first tires manufactured with European natural rubber rolled off its production belt this week.
Apollo Vredestein participates in the EU-PEARLS project, which aims to find a European alternative to traditional sources of natural rubber. Research has focused on Russian dandelion and the desert plant guayule, and other aspects of the project involve finding suitable conditions for growing these plants in Europe, optimizing the natural rubber’s yield and quality and designing the ideal extraction methods.
The first tires produced using European rubber were a number of specimens from the Quatrac Lite range, in size 155/65R14. Apollo Vredestein says it produced tires using rubber extracted from both abovementioned plants.
Reporting this initial production run, the tiremaker comments that, “although first impressions look very promising, the tires with the alternative natural rubbers will first undergo extensive testing over the coming months before being taken into production.”
EU-PEARLS (project 212827) is financed by the European Commission FP7 KBBE Program. The research results will be presented Sept. 24-25 during the closing session at the “BioRubber for Europe in Global Perspective” conference, which is being held in The Netherlands. (Tyres & Accessories)
