Mitas is planning to test the first agriculture tyre made from agricultural cultivated crops. Rubber extracted from the Taraxacum koksaghyz (Kazakh dandelion) will complement rubber tree latex in the compound of agriculture tyres produced by Mitas. The goal is to have the first prototype of the dandelion tyre during 2015. Mitas is also currently involved in the Drive4EU project researching the possibilities of using rubber from the Kazakh dandelion.

“We are examining different ways to use natural and renewable materials to produce our tyres,” said Andrew Mabin, Mitas’ sales and marketing director. “Our research and development department is actively seeking new ways of improving our manufacturing process which includes researching new raw materials or substitutes. We are one of several tyre manufacturers researching the benefits of the Kazakh dandelion in producing a more sustainable rubber for our tyres.”

“A European-made agriculture tyre produced from cultivated plants grown in Europe: That is our idea, and that is one of the main reasons behind our objective to produce agriculture tyres from dandelion rubber,” added Jiri Brejcha, Mitas’ material development manager. “Planting dandelion in Europe will also reduce transportation routes and thus decrease the burden on the environment,” Brejcha added.

Cultivation of the Taraxacum koksaghyz as a rubber-producing crop is one of the innovative ways of extracting rubber. As part of the Drive4EU project, Mitas is responsible for testing the characteristics and features of ‘rubber’ derived from the plant. The objective is to find a new source of rubber with the same or better characteristics than those of the rubber tree.