Bio-based rubber feedstocks are moving closer to industrial development as tyre manufacturers examine alternatives to fossil-derived monomers and plantation-based supply. A new European project will use bread and potato waste to produce commercially relevant synthetic rubbers. Its progress could help determine whether biotechnology can deliver reliable materials at the volume and quality required by tyre producers.
Natural rubber remains essential to tyre manufacturing, particularly in truck, bus and off-highway applications. However, fragmented supply chains have created growing demands for traceability, land-use information and verifiable sourcing data.
Tyre News recently examined how natural rubber traceability is becoming a procurement risk. The issue is increasing pressure on tyre companies to understand where rubber originates and how it was produced.
Synthetic rubber avoids some plantation-related concerns, but most conventional production still depends on petrochemical feedstocks. This leaves tyre manufacturers balancing two different risks: responsible natural rubber sourcing and the carbon impact of fossil-based materials.
Bio-based production could provide an additional supply route. Instead of relying solely on rubber trees or petrochemical processing, developers can convert renewable carbon into chemicals and monomers used to make elastomers.
The RUBBIO project began in May 2026 with funding through the European Union’s research programme. It has a total budget of about €3.79 million and is scheduled to run until April 2030.
Its researchers plan to use starch-containing bread and potato waste as the starting material for three circular rubber value chains. Biomanufacturing processes will convert the waste into chemicals and monomers before producing polybutadiene, nitrile butadiene rubber and styrene butadiene rubber.
The project describes its objective as developing “three novel, sustainable, and circular bio-based rubber value chains” within Europe. It also aims to demonstrate access to more than 1,500 tonnes of bread and potato waste each week.
These materials have applications beyond tyres. However, polybutadiene and styrene butadiene rubber are important components in many tyre compounds. That gives the programme direct relevance to manufacturers seeking renewable alternatives for established synthetic rubber systems.
Food waste is one of several renewable inputs under consideration. Other development routes use plant sugars, agricultural residues, vegetable oils, lignocellulosic biomass and terpene-based chemistry.
The common aim is to produce useful chemical building blocks without extracting all their carbon from fossil resources. Potential outputs include renewable isoprene and butadiene alongside alternative polymers with elastomeric properties.
Tyre News has also reported on ETB Global’s renewable bio-butadiene process. The company is developing a single-reactor process that converts bioethanol into 1,3-butadiene for synthetic rubber production.
This activity reflects wider industry interest. The European tyre sector has already called for stronger policy support covering bio-based materials, alternative rubber crops and secondary raw materials through the EU Bioeconomy Strategy.
Early research indicates that some bio-based elastomers could reduce environmental impacts. A 2021 life-cycle study assessed polyisoprene produced from agricultural residues and reported lower greenhouse gas and land-use intensity than the comparison routes examined.
Those findings do not mean every bio-based material will automatically deliver a lower carbon footprint. Results will depend on the biomass source, processing energy, agricultural inputs, transport requirements and treatment of co-products.
Feedstock competition will also require scrutiny. Using genuine waste streams may avoid some concerns associated with purpose-grown crops. However, manufacturers will still need credible chain-of-custody data and consistent sustainability accounting.
For tyre companies, material performance remains equally important. Any new rubber must meet demanding requirements for grip, fatigue resistance, heat management, durability and processing consistency. Renewable content alone will not compensate for weaker performance or unreliable supply.
The most likely outcome is not the rapid replacement of natural or synthetic rubber by one new feedstock. Tyre formulations are more likely to combine responsibly sourced natural rubber with recycled materials, mass-balance-certified chemicals and bio-based inputs.
RUBBIO could add another option to that portfolio if its processes move successfully from laboratory development to repeatable production. Its value will depend on achievable volumes, compound performance, emissions evidence and cost.
The project therefore represents an important test rather than a finished answer. As traceability changes how tyre companies source natural rubber, bio-based chemistry could change how they secure the renewable and synthetic elastomers used alongside it.
Tagged with: bio-based rubber, renewable feedstocks, RUBBIO project, synthetic rubber, food waste, bio-butadiene, polybutadiene, styrene butadiene rubber, tyre manufacturing, rubber decarbonisation, circular economy, natural rubber traceability
Disclaimer: This content may include forward-looking statements. Views expressed are not verified or endorsed by Tyre News Media.
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