Goodyear to roll out rice-silica tires in China

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has reached an agreement with a Chinese company for the supply of silica derived from rice husk ash, the US tire maker has announced.

Goodyear will begin using the silica, provided by Yihai Food and Oil Industry in China, this year in a consumer tire that will be manufactured in its factory in Pulandian, China, and sold in China.

The tire maker said that it had tested the silica over the past two years at its innovation centre in Akron and found its impact on tire performance to be equal to silica from conventional sources.

“This new silica benefits the environment in many ways: It reduces waste going into landfills; it requires less energy to produce; and it helps make tires more fuel efficient,” said Richard Kramer, Goodyear’s chairman and CEO.

Each year, more than 700 million tonnes of rice are harvested worldwide and disposing of the rice husks is an environmental challenge, noted Goodyear – citing information from the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations.

As a result, husks often are burned to generate electricity and reduce the amount of waste shipped to landfills.

Rice husk ash has been converted to silica for several years, but only recently has technology been developed to process it into tire-grade product.

In addition to the deal with Yihai, Goodyear is negotiating agreements with additional suppliers. Financial details of the agreement with Yihai are not being released.