Plant-Based Rubber Tires Perform Even Better Than Traditional Ones

Determined to reach its environmental goals, a Japanese multinational auto and truck parts manufacturer is expanding the development of a rubber made of the guayule tree, in the hopes of adding their eco-friendlier tire option to the mainstream.

“With guayule, we can reduce the environmental impacts that come with overseas sourcing while also realizing a more sustainable agricultural system for parts of this country that are facing persistent and worsening climate conditions, so it’s really something with many benefits for our environment and our economy,” explains Nizar Trigui, chief technology officer for Bridgestone Americas.

In 2012, Bridgestone Americas started working with guayule – or Parthenium argentatum – a short and woody shrub that grows in dry areas that produces a solid and hypoallergenic rubber. Thanks to bark cells containing latex, guayule-made tires don’t dry out. This year, Bridgestone’s sustainable tires were used on Indy cars, and their performance was similar to or even better than traditional tires. The company is injecting an additional $42 million to expand its harvesting partnerships as part of more than a $100 million investment in guayule-based rubber. Bridgestone wishes to produce an all-natural tire – natural rubber only accounts for 10 to 30% of a tire’s composition. Other non-petroleum rubbers, including from Russian dandelion roots and soybean oil, are being developed.