Ergon offers sustainable alternative for rubber compounding
29 May 2026
Contributed article: Process oil supplier highlights viable option to conventional mineral oils
Recycled process oils are proving to be a viable and sustainable alternative to conventional mineral oils in rubber compounding. Modern regeneration technologies allow significant material recovery while reducing environmental impact.
Supplier Ergon has evaluated its NuovoPrene recycled oil portfolio in EPDM, SSBR and ESBR rubber formulations using industry standard testing methods, including vulcanization, viscoelastic, tensile, dynamic mechanical tests.
An OAN (oil absorption number) analysis was also carrier out to support the programme to replace mineral oil with recycled oil.
According to Ergon, the recycled products demonstrated performance comparable to conventional process oils across all tested systems.
Beyond technical performance, it noted, recycled process oils can reduce the carbon footprint of rubber compounds by approximately 7–50% compared to conventional mineral oils.
"They are compatible with existing compounding equipment and support sustainability goals across tire, technical rubber, TPE and specialty chemical applications," stated Ergon.
The study, it concluded, confirms that recycled process oils are now a "scalable, high-performance and regulation-aligned solution for advancing circular economy objectives in the rubber industry."
For more details, contact - Ergon Inc.
