American technology company United American Health Corporation (UAHC) has established a wholly-owned subsidiary American Sustainable Rubber Company (ASR), an indoor agriculture technology company focused on creating a domestic solution to natural rubber (NR) production. The company hopes to utilise proprietary technology in order to produce the first ever sustainable natural rubber supply chain in the US at a commercial level through a genetically modified rubber source.
ASR seeks to create a US-based commercialised supply chain of NR, where the US currently accounts for less than 1% of global NR sales. The US imported US$2 billion in NR in 2017, amounting to 11.4% of the world total and making the country the second largest importer in the world. Currently, 86% of global NR sales are coming from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Vietnam and China. ASR plans to address this large market opportunity and serve as a domestic NR source for the US.
Relatedly, ASR will also focus on developing and maintaining sustainable indoor growing conditions that protect from negative environmental factors and provide safe and fair working environments in the US. The company anticipates that their sustainable commercial scale operations will be powered by renewable energy with the goal of net zero carbon emissions, which have a positive impact on Earth’s atmosphere as well.