The Rise of Green Processes and Product Development in Rubber Additives

From September 4 to 6, the Association hosted the 2024 China Rubber Industry Association Rubber Additives Committee Members’ Meeting and the 24th National Forum on New Materials Technology in the Rubber Industry in Nanjing. The theme of the conference was “Developing New Quality Productive Forces: A New Journey Toward High-Quality Development of the Rubber Additives Industry.” Industry development must balance short-term needs with long-term goals and keep pace with the times; green, low-carbon, sustainable, and renewable products are becoming the primary focus of product innovation for companies in the rubber additives sector; and the accelerated adoption of green processes to bring green products into industrial-scale production is emerging as a key driver of industrial upgrading in the rubber additives industry. Below is a summary of the key information on rubber additives conveyed at the forum, distilled into five keywords and ten value propositions:

I. Five Key Words

Green and low-carbon development, technological innovation, international competition, sustainable development, bio-based materials

II. Ten Pieces of Valuable Information

1. Total output increased by 11%, while sales revenue rose by only 2%.

Although most companies perceive the market as being at a low point, various economic indicators for rubber additives posted year-on-year growth from January to July 2024, bolstering confidence in the industry’s development. Total industrial output of rubber additives reached 973,000 tonnes during this period, up 11.2% year on year. However, the increase in volume significantly outpaced the rise in value, partly due to price declines for certain products compared with the previous year, resulting in a situation where output expanded but revenues did not.

2. Competition is gradually shifting from the domestic to the international arena.

Some companies still prioritize production, investing relatively little in product R&D, market services, and application development. With the emergence of a new international landscape and the rise of trade protectionism, coupled with the recent three-year expansion of rubber additive capacity, competition is set to intensify in the years ahead.

3. Development must balance short-term and long-term priorities.

First, focus on near-term and short-term development. It is essential to keep pace with the latest developments and trends in the tire industry by concentrating on three key areas: product differentiation, internationalization, and ESG.

Second, focus on medium- and long-term development. Rely on talent and innovation to enhance competitiveness through new products, distinctive features, and innovative business models.

4. Development must keep pace with the times.

The era of high growth and high profits for rubber additives has come to an end; the new focus must be on low consumption and high efficiency, with green practices, low carbon emissions, precision, and resource conservation emerging as the guiding principles for future development. To build long-term competitiveness, companies should invest heavily in cultivating high-caliber teams and ensuring a sustainable talent pipeline; advance digital transformation by leveraging AI and big-data analytics to establish comprehensive databases for fine-chemical synthesis; integrate upstream and downstream operations to optimize downstream users’ application processes; and accelerate the research, development, and production of new materials.

5. Integration of Technological Innovation with Green and Low-Carbon Transformation

Enterprises should leverage breakthroughs in key technologies to restructure their product portfolios, thereby reshaping the industry landscape; at the same time, they should embark on a green and low-carbon transformation to progressively move toward greener and smarter operations. The industry, in turn, must focus on cultivating enterprises that are innovative, high-potential, well-managed, and globally minded, so as to enhance their international competitiveness.

6. Sustainable development is gradually becoming a corporate strategy.

The pursuit of sustainable development has been integrated into the corporate strategies of many globally renowned tire manufacturers. Some leading tire companies have set clear targets: by 2030, sustainable materials will account for 40% of tire production; by 2050, this share will rise to 100%. At recent rubber trade shows, several companies have already begun showcasing products made from sustainable materials. The use of bio-based, renewable, and recyclable sustainable materials in the manufacturing process has become a widely shared consensus across the upstream and downstream sectors for advancing sustainability. As Wang Yandong, Secretary-General of the Rubber Additives Committee of the China Rubber Industry Association, stated: “In response to the era’s demand for green development and the rubber industry’s commitment to sustainability, developing green products and green processes is no longer a matter of choice for rubber additives companies—it is an imperative. We are pleased to see that most leading firms have already begun to make strategic deployments and have achieved varying degrees of progress.”

7. Miniaturization of Production

The miniaturization of rubber additive production processes can address the shortcomings of conventional batch production, such as large liquid holdup and low conversion rates, and has thus become a key R&D focus. Miniaturized processes can complete reactions that traditionally take more than ten hours in just a few tens of seconds, while ensuring process safety and controllability. Recently, the scope of reaction types and application areas for microfluidic technology has expanded further. For instance, synthetic methodologies have been extended from small molecules to biotransformation and polymerization systems; application domains have broadened from reaction systems to separation systems; and product applications have found new uses in multiple fields, including rubber additives.

8. Bio-based Materials

Yanggu Huatai has established a subsidiary, Shandong Huatai Muyuan Bioengineering Co., Ltd., which will mark the first time in the rubber additives industry that lignin extracted from agricultural crop straw, corn cobs, and paper-making industrial waste is used to produce novel bio-based rubber additive products. In the bio-based materials sector, Qingdao Funuo Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. has also made strategic deployments, developing a range of bio-based and renewable products—including bio-oils, bio-based resins, bio-based processing aids, and bio-based functional additives—and securing applications across multiple industries.

9. Greening of Anti-Aging Agents

In response to the downstream demand for sustainable development in tire products and other industries, as well as the requirement under U.S. Public Law 5931 for the substitution of the anti-aging agent 6PPD, Sheng’ao Chemical has introduced new products such as 7PPD and 77PD. In addition, the company has developed a green new process for its established long-life anti-aging agent 3100, which delivers outstanding performance in terms of active ingredient content, resistance to thermal–oxidative aging, dynamic fatigue resistance, and resistance to migration-induced discoloration, while generating significantly less wastewater. Methyl isopentyl ketone (MIAK) is a key raw material for the production of 77PD and 7PPD; therefore, the green production of novel anti-aging agents begins with the green production of MIAK. In 2023, Sheng’ao Chemical developed an MIAK production process characterized by mild reaction conditions and high catalytic efficiency, conversion rate, selectivity, and raw-material utilization, thereby ensuring a stable supply of high-end anti-aging-agent precursors and addressing critical gaps in the supply chain.

10. Greening of Accelerators

Another area of effort to enhance the greenness of rubber additives is to address issues such as nitrosamines, high-risk residual carcinogens, and excessive heavy metal content in rubber products. Hebi UHOO New Materials Co.,Ltd. has developed environmentally friendly zinc dithiocarbamate accelerators, UH-301 and MC, which feature no pollution, no discoloration, low odor, resistance to nitrosamine formation, extremely low heavy metal content, extremely low chloride and sulfate ion content, fast vulcanization speed, and excellent vulcanization flatness. These products can replace accelerators BZ and EZ and are used in industries such as latex and sealing strips.