The need to invest in research and development (R&D) to address supply disruptions is increasingly high-profile. Both natural rubber (NR) and synthetic rubber (SR) require strategic planning and direction for R&D.
Both natural and synthetic rubber show signs of possible supply disruptions
NR is an indispensable raw material for the global economy. Tires have the largest share of the world market and use a combination of NR and synthetic rubber (Synthetic rubber, SR) to achieve desired performance and durability. The ratio between NR and SR varies in different tyres, where the larger tire uses more NR.
Rubber components in cars use higher levels of SR in the mix. Many vibration isolation applications including bridge bearings, jetty buffers and even earthquake buffers, use more NR. NR rubber remains important in the manufacture of medical rubber products such as gloves and urinary catheters.
Recently, the world rubber industry has expressed concern about the maintained and available global supply. Both NR and SR show signs of possible supply disruption. In the case of fossil fuel-based SRs, consumers continue to pressure the industry to change to renewables, as the evidence blames fossil fuels for climate change.
NR, although renewable, is increasingly facing problems of productivity decline, labor shortages and poor technology adoption by smallholders. The reality is that neither NR nor SR can satisfy all the performance requirements of rubber products. In applications with high temperature and oily environments, only certain grades of SR can be used. Whereas applications that must withstand high heat build-up, such as in aircraft tires, NR is an irreplaceable material.
Providing the world with the right rubber for different applications is the biggest challenge, as the global rubber product industry shifts away from non-renewable materials. The need to invest in R&D to address such supply disruptions is increasingly urgent. Both NR and SR need strategic planning and direction for R&D. As a renewable material, the demand for NR will increase. At the same time, R&D is urgently needed to produce renewable products with the properties of SR. Chemical or biological NR transformations are important issues for R&D.
As the world transitions to a NetZero economy, options for SR production should be explored from renewable feedstocks such as NR and other natural hydrocarbon sources. In the case of NR, R&D must focus on increasing yields, increasing yields and improving crop vigor. This is where breeding must continue to be a priority. Increasing production will also include reductions in base construction time and yield losses due to disease and other causes. Trips to parts of the Amazon may be required to collect the remaining nine Hevea species, which are not yet commercially exploited, to expand the genetic base.
The labor shortage is another important factor of output. Technologies that use less labor, especially in harvesting, must continue to be developed. This is where R&D in the field of digitization and automation becomes imperative. In the long run, R&D should also consider changing the NR production model. Advances in biotechnology are also not to be overlooked.
During the development of rubber products, research and development should reasonably focus on meeting the growing consumer demand for green materials. Industry should not reduce investment in R&D to develop new methods of latex production through molecular techniques. However, technologies created through R&D will not be of much use if they are not effectively transferred into practice. The effective application of farming technologies transferred directly to farmers from researchers will be more effective. R&D and technology transfer play a very important role in ensuring that the world rubber economy has a sustainable supply of rubber with the required technical characteristics.
DATUK DR. ABDUL AZIZ S.A. KADIR, IRRDB GENERAL SECTOR – NGUYEN ANH NHA
(Vietnam Rubber Research Institute)
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