Bridgestone Tires Opens a New Manufacturing Plant in Arizona

☰ MENU

MY GARAGE

+ Add Vehicle

813-769-2451

Monday - Friday:
9:00am - 6:00pm EST
813-769-2451

HELP

CART

View Cart Checkout

Articles and Reviews

Truck and SUV Articles and Reviews

Aftermarket Product Manufacturer Articles and Reviews

Tire Manufacturer Articles and Reviews

Bridgestone Tires Articles and Reviews

Bridgestone Tires Opens a New Manufacturing Plant in Arizona

Bridgestone Tires is moving closer to its long-term environmental goal that will see it develop new domestic and commercially viable natural rubber. The company recently opened a new Biorubber Process Research Center in Mesa, Arizona. This 10-acre research and innovation centre will be used to extract natural rubber from guayule which is a native shrub commonly found in the SouthWestern United States.

Production to Start Immediately

At the ribbon cutting celebration late last month, Bridgestone said that the first guayule rubber samples produced at this Biorubber Process Research Center will be available by the end of October. Bridgestone decided to go with guayule rubber as it has the same qualities found on the natural rubber that is harvested from hevea rubber trees. This makes the rubber a very valuable product perfect for making tires. This new plant comes at a very important time as currently 90% of the world’s natural rubber supply comes from hevea rubber trees found in Southeast Asia.

Positive Reception

Bill Niaura, Director of New Business Development at Bridgestone said, "The opening of the Bridgestone Biorubber Process Research Center is a significant milestone in Bridgestone's journey to develop a new and domestic source of natural rubber.” He went ahead to say that with this plant, Bridgestone is positioning itself as it anticipates growth in demand for natural rubber while moving closer to achieving its long-term goal of manufacturing tires from renewable raw materials.

John Giles, the Mayor of Mesa said, “It’s phenomenal to see innovation projects like Bridgestone’s Biorubber Process Research Center finding their home here in Mesa.” He continued to say, “We hope this is the beginning of an entire industry taking root that will provide jobs and opportunities for our community.”

Leaving Nothing to Chance

Bridgestone will supply this research centre with biomass that will be used for rubber production. The guayule to be used will be sourced from the company’s own 281-acre farm in Eloy, Arizona. This will help Bridgestone cut down on cost and eventually keep the cost of rubber and its tires low. At the farm, Bridgestone will have two greenhouses, a research lab and equipment storage building. Bridgestone has a team of scientists at the farm whose job is to research the genetic improvements of guayule and optimize the practices used for better output.

After the company collects the guayule, it will send it to its technical centres in Tokyo, Japan and Akron, Ohio. From here engineers will work around the clock to optimize rubber performance and explore the full potential of tires.

By: Sean Bowes

There are no products available for your selected application. Please clear the filter or choose a new application.