Goodyear announced yesterday that it will start to use the ash left over from the burning of rice husks as a source of silica for its tyres.The tyremaker claimed the rice husk waste, which is burned to produce electricity, is normally destined for landfills, but will now be used to produce silica.
The company said it has tested rice husk-derived silica over the past two years at its Akron technical center and “found its impact on tyre performance to be equal to traditional sources.” Goodyear said it is negotiating with potential suppliers to purchase rice husk ash silica for use in its tyres.
“The use of rice husk ash will provide Goodyear an alternative source of silica while helping reduce the amount of rice husk waste being landfilled,” said Joseph Zekoski, interim chief technical officer. “This illustrates Goodyear’s commitment to innovation and to the environment.”
It was 13 years ago that Goodyear announced the European market launch of the BioTred, a low rolling resistance tyre that used a corn starch filler as a partial replacement for carbon black and silica. The tyre actually tabbed to be OE on an eco-version of the Ford Fiesta.
In 2006, Goodyear received a nearly $4 million grant from the European Union to further develop eco-friendly tyres, and the tyremarker specifically pointed to its cornstarch concept. In project documents, Goodyear said, “The project’s first component aims to develop an alternative to traditional fillers used in tyres to reinforce the lower sidewall. The new filler will be made from renewable resources (a new biopolymeric filler produced from corn starch), thereby reducing its environmental impact and allowing reductions in CO2 emissions during its production. The project’s second component consists of an in-depth analysis and modification of the tyre structure, aimed at minimizing energy loss while the vehicle is in motion.”
But corn starch technology died, according to Goodyear, because of “technical limitations on the amount of the material you could use in a tyre, which made it less attractive than the original fillers. And after 2002, many businesses started rethinking the use of foodstuffs as raw materials for products and began to consider other renewable sources.” These are not concerns with rice husk ash, Goodyear said, because once it is converted into silica there are none of the technical limitations, and the option is not a food stuff, rather it is the byproduct of waste.
Goodyear said that more than 700 million tons of rice is harvested worldwide each year, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, and disposing of the rice husks is an environmental challenge. As a result, husks often are burned to generate electricity and reduce the amount of waste shipped to landfills.