Page 12 - CTB N8 - 2014-04

COMPANY NEWS
Continental Wins GreenTec Award 2014 for Dandelion Rubber
need a tropical climate in contrast to regular rubber trees. This undemanding plant can be cultivated in a number of temperate regions on what is known as "marginal land" that was previously unusable in terms of agriculture. Andreas Topp: "Dandelion rubber will
sport and entertainment. Continental are using the name Taraxagum to brand dandelion rubber, the name being derived from the botanical name for dandelion (taraxacum). In the meantime the first test tyres using the material have also been presented, a fact which was
Project Manager Dr. Carla Recker (Continental) and Professor Dirk Prüfer (Fraunhofer Institute) receive the European environment prize "GreenTec Award 2014" for the "RUBIN" project, which enables rubber obtained from the dandelion plant to be used for tyre production.
Continental, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME) at the University of Münster have been honoured with the GreenTec Award 2014 for their co-development project "RUBIN – Industrial Emergence of Natural Rubber from Dandelion." A 60-member jury panel consisting of experts from
rubber project. Continental is pushing a ver y promising technology whose full potential will fully unfold in the next few years. In view of increasing levels of motorisation in growth markets such as Asia, we expect a major increase in demand for natural rubber in the future. We are convinced that the use of rubber from dandelion root will
shorten transport routes to our production sites and enable the growing global demand for rubber to be met without sacrificing more precious areas of rainforest. Both these factors will have a sustainably positive effect on the world's carbon footprint and on bio-diversity." Dr. Carla Recker, project manager and in charge of materials chemistry in the Continental Tire Division, emphasizes: "In addition to persuading the jur y of the GreenTec Awards, this positive
announced at the IAA exhibition in Hanover.
The natural rubber in the treads of the test tyres was completely replaced with Taraxagum. This important step takes Continental even closer to reaching its goal
of making tire production more sustainable and less dependent from traditional raw materials. “In order to make the best use of the crop yield produced to date, we decided to build passenger car winter tyres, as they contain a high portion of natural rubber,” explained Setzer.
industry, academia, trade associations, and the media considered this project to be an outstanding example of commitment to the environment and pioneering environmental technology in the category "Automobility." The award ceremony was held on May 4th in Munich at the start of IFAT, the world's leading trade fair for environmental technology. The GreenTec Awards, of which there are 14 different categories, are Europe's biggest environmental and business awards and were first presented in 2008.
"We are very pleased to receive this award for our dandelion
make our tyre production considerably more efficient and sustainable," said Nikolai Setzer, Member of the Executive Board of Continental and Head of Tire Division.
"In the RUBIN project we are working to find an ecologically, economically, and socially viable solution to meet this growing demand," added Dr. Andreas Topp, Vice President Material and Process Development and Industrialization Tires at Continental. Continental and IME are currently working on the industrial use of Russian dandelion, which is said to be ver y rubber-rich and does not
environmental impact also motivates and encourages us in our work on this long-term and challenging undertaking." Dr. Recker received the award together with Professor Dirk Prüfer of the Fraunhofer IME in Munich in front of 1000 guests from the worlds of business,
Continental intends to industrialise dandelion rubber and introduce it to serial production within the next five to ten years. The tyres will undergo thorough testing at the Contidrom proving grounds near Hanover as well as in Arvidsjaur, Sweden.
12 Commercial Tyre Business