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Navigating Rubber's
Future in a Finite World

Rubber in daily life

Rubbers are an incredible materials that feature in many products that make our everyday lives possible. They form the basis of tyres, which are key to most forms of transportation. They make our shoe soles comfortable and help us get where we need to go. They also makes electronics waterproof, are necessary infor many medical equipment devices, and acts as a shock absorbers and protectors.

The demand for rubber is constantly growing. Reselo offers a way to make use of up-cycled material and decrease use of fossil-based content in rubber products.

Climate change

As climate change and environmental degradation continue to alter the environment in which we live, alternative solutions to pollution and extraction are in high demand. Many people know the harm caused by plastics, but rubber has received less attention in policy and public debate. While rubber is an indispensable material, the global industry is responsible for increasing fossil-fuel dependency, high CO2 emissions, toxic waste, and deforestation.

Stagnant innovation in the market

The global rubber market has stagnated in innovation within the polymer segment for four to five decades. Few novel materials have been introduced that could enhance the properties or applications of rubber products. This stagnation in material development continues despite the evolving demands and technological advancements in related industries.

 

As a result, the sector has relied on existing polymer formulations that, in many ways, all contain inherent problems. Even “sustainable” rubber has often been rubber that includes a certain amount of added “filler” made up of duplicate, reused content—fillers are used in most rubber-products, but compromise the performance of rubber if they exceed a certain percentage of the material and do not directly replace the polymer.

The problem with Synthetic Rubber

Non-renewable

Approximately 60% of the global rubber market share is synthetic, and the market is growing steadily. In terms of actual production volume, the split is closer to 50/50. Synthetic rubber is formed from fossil-based and finite resources, such as crude oil and natural gas.

Energy Intensive

Both the extraction process and making rubber from oil and gas are extremely energy-intensive processes, which require heating the oil to 400 degrees Celsius, among other things.

Harmful

Lastly, synthetic rubber also contributes to microplastic pollution. Rubber is often used in products that wear out, such as shoes and tyres, releasing small, toxic, and long-lasting particles into the environment.

The problem with
natural rubber

Monocultures threatening biodiversity

Natural rubber plantations are monocultures of rubber trees such as Hevea brasiliensis. They are often cultivated at the expense of rainforests, negatively affecting biodiversity and people.

Impossible to meet demand with just natural rubber

Most importantly, to replace fossil-based rubber polymers, we need to find alternatives to natural rubber - we could never produce enough FSC-certified natural rubber to fill the demand. All rubber polymers have different properties and contribute to the performance of the finished rubber compounds.

Chemicals and toxins

Applying agrochemicals, such as fertilisers and pesticides, in rubber plantations can also lead to soil degradation and water pollution. These chemicals can leak into local waterways, harming aquatic life and affecting water quality for nearby communities. Only a tiny portion of the natural rubber sold today is FSC-certified and comes from responsibly managed forests.

THAT'S WHERE RESELO
MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

By making use of a biobased material that would otherwise go to waste, Reselo Rubber offers a longed for solution to working with rubbers in a finite world.

Read more about our solution