It’s possible you could see truck tires in the future made from rubber from a domestic plant rather than the traditional rubber tree, as a five-year study led by Cooper Tire & Rubber showed good results for passenger tires.
Cooper Tire and Rubber has completed builds of tires made of natural rubber sourced from the guayule plants.
Bridgestone will be exploring a natural, domestic source for rubber production at its new Biorubber Process Research Center in Mesa, Arizona.
Bridgestone Americas Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Bridgestone Corp., has completed its Agro Operations Guayule Research Farm in Eloy, Ariz. The research farm will supply guayule biomass for rubber production at the company’s BioRubber Process Research Center, which is currently under construction in Mesa, Ariz.
Bridgestone America has broken ground on its Biorubber Process Research Center in Mesa, Ariz., to investigate the use of the guayule plant as an alternative natural rubber source.
Ten years ago, you could buy a decent steer tire for $300. Not anymore. But, then again, you're not buying the same tire anymore either. Long-term pricing trends show that the cost of raw materials used in tire manufacturing has gone up over the past decade, along with the shelf prices for tires, but consumers haven't seen the price swings for tires that manufacturers have seen for materials over the same period of time.
Although we're in no danger of running short of our primary source of natural rubber, prices have risen dramatically over the past 10 years, contributing to rising prices for tires. Several tire makers are researching other sources of rubber.
Consortium partners Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., Yulex Corp., Arizona State University, and the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture met recently to review initial progress on their $6.9 million Biomass Research and Development Initiative grant from the USDA and the U.S. Department of Energy.
media brand
The secure and easy all-access connection to your content.
Bookmarked content can then be accessed anytime on all of your logged in devices!
Already a member? Log In
