Japanese tyre maker Bridgestone together with its collaborators says that the Russian dandelion could be a viable alternative for natural rubber (NR) and can be turned into a renewable source of high-quality, tyre-grade rubber.
Bridgestone scrutinised the performance levels using rubber extracted from Russian dandelion and will conduct further testing at its technical centres in Akron and Tokyo, with larger scale testing to follow in 2014.
This news follows a recent project to research and develop guayule, a shrub native to south-western US and northern Mexico, as an alternative to NR. In that project, Bridgestone Americas is establishing a pilot farm and constructing a rubber research centre in the southwest of US.
The firm says that Russian dandelion and guayule have almost identical qualities compared to NR harvested from the Hevea tree, which is currently the primary source for tyre makers.
The parent company is providing the funding and strategic input for these projects while Bridgestone Americas is responsible for the execution.
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