Sumitomo Rubber Industries has been examining the potential of Russian dandelion as a new, alternative source of natural rubber, and has begun a joint-research project with Kultevat, an American biotech company. Kultevat has vast experience in the commercial utilization of plant materials to develop profitable, sustainable and environmentally-benign sources of rubber. Kultevat serves to reduce near-total dependence on foreign sources of rubber globally.
SRI believes it can accelerate this process through the combination of Kultevat’s biomass technology and the proprietary technologies that the Sumitomo Rubber Group has pioneered – technologies that have already found practical applications in terms of replacing petroleum-based tire materials with fossil resource-free materials and otherwise reducing the environmental impact of its products.
It is hoped the project will promote the greater use of natural resources and expand their producing regions, thus enabling SRI to secure a reliable and efficient supply of natural raw materials at its production bases around the world.
August 19, 2015
