Several countries including Japan, America, Korea and parts of Europe are encouraging synthetic rubber use in green tyres as new tyre regulations are being implemented. Tyre labeling as well as new standards set for wet grip , energy efficiency, wear, noise and service life of tyres will be enforced.
Some industry experts suggest that China, being a top tyre exporting country, should be the standard of the European Union and other foreign tyre labeling regulations in polishing relevant regulations and in improving the formulations of synthetic rubber raw materials, technology and equipment level, and to keep up with the green tyre supporting demand.
China has pushed for its own tyre labeling system since April, with the Chinese Rubber Industry Association (CRIA) crafting a programme for the development of “green tyres” as part of the country’s five-year plan (2015) , in which it says that at least 25% of car tyre production has already been allotted to “green tyres”.
Double Coin research laboratory Director Fiu Soubo said that for China to maintain the huge market share it enjoys, it needs manufacturers that are able to face the challenges of modern tyres production, without sacrificing essential tyre properties. This can also be achieved by an “optimised synthetic rubber technology to accelerate the research and development of high-performance SR production”, he said.
The EU tyre labeling system will be enforced in November 2012 and the relevant mandatory standards are relatively strict and tyre labeling regulations are comprehensive; Likewise, criteria for energy efficiency, slippery, noise and life performance are raised.
LI Hua Ting, Deputy Chief Engineer of the Beijing Research and Design Institute of Rubber Industry opined that under the impetus of the new regulations, the recent global share of green tyres will increase to over 15%. Consequently, related technology, materials and formulation will also change and develop, Li adds.
According to Yang Xiuxia, Senior Engineer in China Petrochemical Economic Technology Research Institute, producers of green tyres should speed up their production to cope with the rapidly increasing demand.
(PRA)