Sustainable Natural Rubber Group Agrees on Priority Actions, Governance
Natural rubber stakeholders have aligned on a governance structure and priority actions for the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), an independent platform created by the Tire Industry Project.

Yokohama Rubber Co. Presents Findings of Research into Natural Rubber
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., recently presented the results of joint research projects with two Thai universities on different aspects of natural rubber.

Global Natural Rubber Supply Anticipated to Grow 4.5% in 2018
The global supply of natural rubber is anticipated to increase by 4.5% while demand is anticipated to grow by 2.8%, according to the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries.

Apollo Tyres and RRI Receive Patent for New Rubber Compound
Apollo Tyres Ltd. and the Rubber Research Institute of India have teamed up to develop a new type of natural rubber that can substitute for expensive imported artificial compounds needed for high performance tires. The newly-patented compound should lower costs for Apollo Tyres’ line o high-performance tires.

Cooper Tire Shared Initiative Makes Tires from U.S. Guayule Shrub
Cooper Tire and its research consortium partners have announced the successful completion of a five-year, $6.9 million Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) grant, “Securing the Future of Natural Rubber — An American Tire and Bioenergy Platform from Guayule.”

Cooper, Consortium Partners Make Progress on Guayule Rubber Tire
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., and its grant partners for “Securing the Future of Natural Rubber—an American Tire and Bioenergy Platform from Guayule,” have made several advancements in their initiative to apply guayule-based rubber in tire production. Guayule (why-yoo-lee) is a desert scrub native to Mexico and the American southwest that has the capability to

Conti Tests Tires Made from Dandelion-derived Rubber
Continental Tire AG, together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, Julius Kuehn-Institute, and EKUSA, has produced and tested the first tires with tread made completely out of natural rubber derived from dandelions. “In agricultural terms, dandelions are an undemanding plant, growing in moderate climates, even in the northern hemisphere, and can

Bridgestone Creates Technology to Detect Rubber Tree Disease
With the help of government agencies and universities, Bridgestone Corp. has developed a method to fight the white root rot disease that affects rubber trees, Tyres & Accessories reports. Since 2010, the tire company has been working with the Indonesian Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology and a number of universities to develop

Pirelli Makes UHP Tire from Guayule Rubber
Pirelli has constructed its first ultra high performance tire containing natural rubber from the guayule plant. The prototype tire was recently tested on the Italian tiremaker’s Vizzola and Balocco test tracks on a Maserati. The tire took two years to develop from primary materials research to testing, Pirelli said. On the test track, the tires

Cooper’s Guayule Tire Could Soon be Reality
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is getting closer to creating a marketable guayule (why-yoo-lee) tire as the company is in both advanced and complete stages of compounding work to create a tire made 100% of guayule tire components. Cooper held its annual meeting with Biomass Research and Development Initiative grant members Aug. 18-19, to discuss progress
