Bridgestone is targeting 100% renewable materials by 2050 and hopes to begin commercializing guayule rubber by the end of the decade. The Japanese company has been researching the potential to extract rubber from the drought-resistant shrub for more than 10 years, spending over $100 million in the process. The DOE funds will be used to create gene maps of three guayule varieties with the ultimate goal of boosting rubber content.
“Guayule shows tremendous potential for advancing the biodiversity of natural rubber sourcing and introducing alternatives to existing crops in water-starved areas such as America’s desert southwest,” says William Niaura, Director of Sustainable Materials and Circular Economy, Bridgestone Americas, in a press statement. “This grant will accelerate our efforts to create a sustainable model for growing and harvesting guayule at scale, which we are aiming to achieve by the end of the decade.”
Field tests will be conducted at Bridgestone guayule research centers and farms in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Italy.