ERJ News: Rubber Industry Players of the Week

 This week we give the section over to the 20 leading contenders for places in the new E4S Top 10 rankings.

From the expert judging panel's* scoring and assessments, the revised Top 10 ranking of projects will be revealed in the Nov/Dec issue of European Rubber Journal magazine.   

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The E4S programme encompasses a wide range of materials-science-based developments for industries including: automotive, tires, automotive components, construction, consumer, industrial and medical.  

In alphabetical order, the 20 contenders for the second E4S Top 10 (company/project title) are:

Asahi Kasei / New generation styrene-butadiene rubber

Behn Meyer Europe / Epoxidised natural rubber filler technology

Biokemik / Bio-Butadiene from renewable resources

Cabot Corp. / Engineered Elastomer Composites

Continental / Eco garden hose

Covestro / Sustainable Sports Flooring Based On Co2

ETB / Bio-Butadiene From Ethanol For Tire Production

ExxonMobil Chemical, Specialty Elastomers & Butyl Business / Creating higher performance tire innerliners with new specialty elastomer to extend battery range  

Flinders University / Self-repairing rubber

Isogran / Rice-husk silica

JSR Elastomer Europe / New hydrogenated styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) for ultra-high strength

Kraton / IMSS Technology

Kuraray Europe / New styrenic elastomer using renewable monomer

Kordsa Technical Textile and Continental / New ecofriendly dip technology (COKOON) of textile reinforcement for tires : based on open source concept

MCPP (Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.) / Incorporating Renewable Carbon in TPEs

Semperit Technische Produkte / Green EPDM

Trinseo Europe / Highly-functionalized S-SBR

Trinseo Europe / ISCC certification of synthetic rubber production

Tyromer / Tire-to-tire recycling

UPM Biochemicals /  Renewable functional fillers for a lighter and more sustainable future

*The E4S judging panel, which is coordinated by ERJ editor Patrick Raleigh, comprises:

Prof James Busfield, professor of materials & national teaching fellow director of industrial engagement & head of the soft matter group, Queen Mary University of London.
Dr. Christoph Sokolowski, lead on ‘sustainability’ issues within the German rubber industry association the WDK (Wirtschaftsverband  der deutschen Kautschukindustrie), based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Martyn Bennett, who has recently founded UK-based consultancy Midsomer Science, after a career spanning over 30 years at Avon Rubber plc, most recently as chief scientist and head of its ARTIS consultancy service. 
Ji?í Brejcha, head of Brejcha Rubber Consulting, and former materials development specialist at Trelleborg Wheel Systems, and before that Mitas, Prague, Czech Republic.