W. Niaura
Bridgestone Americas, Inc.,
United States
Keywords: guayule, rubber, latex
Summary:
Towards the objective of diversifying and de-risking the world’s natural rubber supply-chain, Bridgestone has spent the past ten years investing in the fundamental science to advance guayule agriculture and processing technologies. Recent breakthroughs in agricultural operations, coupled with the ability to produce hypo-allergenic latex and differentiated tire rubber, have created a line-of-sight towards a viable business model. The additional opportunity to position guayule as a low water-use crop in response to the ever-increasing challenge of water scarcity and drought creates a call to action and the additional opportunity for societal good. This presentation will share Bridgestone’s vision of a roadmap and the associated partner-ecosystem that could see initial guayule production beginning in the near future. Private industry, public institutions, state and federal governments all need to be involved to expand this vision.