Bridgestone America has announced the opening of Biorubber Process Research Center in Mesa, Arizona, where the company is planning to develop commercially-viable source for natural rubber.
The 10-acre research centre will focus on extracting natural rubber from guayule, a shrub found in the southwestern US. Bridgestone said that it is expecting to produce samples of the rubber within next month.
According to Bridgestone guayule rubber is identical to natural rubber and can be used for making its next generation tiers.
Guayule rubber produced at the Biorubber Process Research Center will be sent to the company's technical centers in Ohio, Akron, and Tokyo, where engineers will work to optimise the rubber performance so that it can be used in tires.
Bridgestone America director of new business development Bill Niaura said: "Through this innovation project and others like it, Bridgestone is positioning itself to meet the constant, anticipated growth in demand for natural rubber, while also moving closer to achieving its long-term vision of manufacturing products from raw materials that are fully renewable and sustainable by 2050."
