US-based Dow Chemical and Lehigh Technologies, manufacturer of sustainable, micronised rubber powders (MRP), are partnering on research targeted at making tyres more sustainable.
Dow and Lehigh will combine proprietary technologies to modify the rubber particles. The programme will combine Dow’s expertise in polymer chemistry with Lehigh’s expertise in sustainable rubber compound development and testing.
Lehigh Technologies’ proprietary manufacturing process takes tyre and other post-industrial rubber material and “upcycles” it into micron-scale, sustainable powders that are compatible with customers’ existing formulations, making it easy to integrate into new or existing products. Lehigh says its sustainable powders help companies achieve sustainability goals, while helping manage the high cost of non-renewable raw materials.
Currently, there are over 100 million tyres containing Lehigh’s micronised rubber powder. In June, the company launched an industry-wide Road to One Billion Campaign to put 1 billion tyres on the road manufactured with sustainable materials, to further reduce the carbon footprint of a tyre.(PRA)