AKRON, Ohio , Oct. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ: GT), one of the world's largest tire manufacturers, and Visolis, a pioneering sustainable technology company, today announced a collaboration project between the two companies to produce isoprene through the upcycling of biobased materials. This collaboration is supported by a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant awarded to Visolis earlier this year.

Isoprene, an important precursor for some types of synthetic rubber, is a hydrocarbon that is typically generated as a by-product from refining crude oil. Isoprene units are polymerized into long chains using a catalyst to produce polyisoprene, which is used as a raw material in manufacturing tires and other items.

The Visolis and Goodyear collaboration will leverage Visolis' technology to produce high-quality isoprene from lignocellulosic feedstocks, which are non-edible biomass and agricultural materials. Visolis conducted an initial carbon footprint analysis to explore the reduction potential of its process and will continue to evaluate reductions further as part of their collaboration project with Goodyear.  

"We are excited to collaborate with Goodyear and leverage our revolutionary technology to transform waste materials into valuable monomers," said Dr. Deepak Dugar, CEO of Visolis. "This partnership is a testament to our shared commitment to sustainable practices and the development of advanced materials that drive positive change."

"We believe that innovation and collaboration is key to making progress along our sustainability journey and helping us achieve our goals, including net-zero value chain emissions by 2050," said Chris Helsel, senior vice president, Global Operations and Chief Technology Officer, Goodyear. "By working with companies like Visolis, we are able to continue to learn, innovate and help build a better future."

Goodyear actively seeks sustainable material* options that deliver product performance while meeting the company's high standards of quality and safety. To advance the company's sustainable material use, Goodyear's technology teams work to investigate new alternative raw materials and incorporate innovative solutions. One example of this is the 90% sustainable-material demonstration tire Goodyear unveiled earlier this year. Goodyear, working with its supply base, plans to sell a tire with up to 70% sustainable materials this year.

About The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

Goodyear is one of the world's largest tire companies. It employs about 74,000 people and manufactures its products in 57 facilities in 23 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. For more information about Goodyear and its products, go to www.goodyear.com/corporate.

About Visolis

Visolis is developing a decarbonization platform helping industries ranging from personal care to apparel and transportation achieve net zero emission targets. The Visolis platform combines artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and chemical catalysis to efficiently produce a portfolio of carbon negative chemicals and net-zero emissions sustainable aviation fuels. Visolis' proprietary process transforms sustainable raw materials, including waste biomass and CO2, into bio-based chemicals with diverse applications ranging from drop-in replacements for commodity petrochemicals to higher performance fuels.

* Goodyear actively reviews definitions and standards that continue to mature and defines a sustainable material as a bio-based/renewable, recycled material or one that may be produced using or contributing to other sustainable practices for resource conservation and/or emissions reductions including mass-balance materials.

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SOURCE The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company