Team:SDU-Denmark/Tour20

The rubber issue

A grasp of the problem

The rubber demand is growing by 5-6 % annually. At present, 40 % of the global rubber demand is satisfied by natural rubber while the remaining 60 % comes from synthetic rubber, and it is noteworthy that the fraction of natural rubber is increasing. The fact that synthetic rubber can’t fully mimic all the properties of natural rubber necessitates the use of natural rubber in the production of quality seals, tires, latex gloves, condoms, etc. The increasing demand for rubber and the inferior properties of synthetic rubber call for development of new innovative sources of natural rubber.

The primary source of natural rubber is the rubber tree with approximately 11.3 million tons of natural rubber produced worldwide in 2012 - and the amount is increasing. Though increasing ease of modern world gene technology have given rise to high-yielding Nigerian clones, the production still requires a vast amount of plantations.

These plantations need areas of distinct climate conditions. Furthermore the tree is slow growing and incapable of producing any rubber the first 7 years, making it difficult to establish any new plantations. These problems can all be solved by implementing the usage of bacteria in the production of rubber.

Dig deeper to get a glimpse of how the world of rubber is at hand, how dark the future looks or how bright we turn it.