About least 279 million tires are discarded and recycled annually keeping significant amounts of rubber out of landfills. Recycled rubber is friendly to the environment.

The Benefits of Recycling

Less energy is needed in using recycled rubber rather than producing new rubber. It also decreases the demand for new natural rubber by helping keep rubber tree plantations from encroaching into sensitive tropical ecosystems.

Because rubber biodegrades so slowly, it builds up quickly, increasing the potential as a safety hazard especially if a fire occurs which causes intense air pollution.

Recycling Methods

Three basic recycling methods are used:

• Refurbishing such as retreading old tires to produce refurbished ones
• Breaking the rubber down into an entirely new product such as shoes, inner tubes, doormats, buckets, mulch, flowerpots and even clothing
• Producing energy used for manufacturing processes, electricity or other purposes

Some enterprising souls have even created entire homes using recycled rubber!

The Challenge of Devulcanizing

Just as vulcanization increases the elasticity of rubber, devulcanizing breaks the bonds formed during the vulcanization process. This allows the rubber to be remolded and reused for the wide range of purposes mentioned above.

Several processes can be used for devulcanization. They involve high heat and toxic chemicals. While this works, it tends to make environmentally sound rubber recycling difficult. This is why scientists are always seeking ways to perfect the devulcanization techniques.

About Goodyear Rubber

Goodyear Rubber manufactures rubber for applications for the aerospace, defense, food processing, construction, commercial, automotive, canning, sporting goods, mining and material handling sectors.

Goodyear Rubber takes care of all components of the rubber manufacturing process from design through production. We are ISO 9001:2008 certified and ROHS compliant. Contact us at (909) 987-1774 or custserv@goodyearrubber.com for more information.

We are located in Southern California and have been manufacturing rubber components since 1961.