Bridgestone Corp. : and Ajinomoto Co., Inc. Jointly Developing Synthetic Rubber from Biomass

4-traders.com
05/31/2012
03:44am

Bridgestone Corp. and Ajinomoto Co., Inc. Jointly Developing Synthetic Rubber from Biomass
The Goal is to Develop Tires with 100 % Sustainable Materials

TOKYO (May 31, 2012) - Bridgestone Corporation today announced that it has successfully polymerized*1 high-cis polyisoprene (IR*2) synthetic rubber from isoprene*3 provided by Ajinomoto Co, Inc., a partner in synthetic rubber development for tires. Isoprene is produced with biomass.

Demand for tires is expected to increase in tandem with rising car ownership worldwide, and the Bridgestone Group is committed to promoting the development of technologies and business models that contribute to greater use of recyclable and renewable resources in order to build a sustainable society.

The Bridgestone Group is promoting a variety of initiatives for creating "100% sustainable materials*4" by 2050, but IR extracted from crude oil feedstock is a market with limited potential for supply. The Group has been searching for ways to procure raw materials from renewable resources to ensure the supply of sustainable resources. Polymerized IR has been successfully polymerized at this time using isoprene produced with biomass by Ajinomoto, which has the world's most advanced fermentation technologies. This development could be a major catalyst for achieving the Group's goal of a sustainable society. In addition, IR bonded with isoprene from biomass feedback using the Group's proprietary polymerization catalyst*5 technologies can verify the practical feasibility of IR.

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