Bridgestone Announces Location Plans for Guayule Research Farm and Process Research Center
TOKYO (August 2, 2012) – Today, Bridgestone Corporation (BSJ) announced that locations for a guayule research farm and associated process research center have been selected.
This project is being accomplished by Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) in collaboration with BSJ. BATO has completed acquisition of a 281-acre agricultural site in Eloy, Ariz., to serve as the base of its agricultural research operation. This research farm will supply guayule for the company's process research center that is planned for nearby Mesa, Ariz.
"This was an important step in the realization of our guayule research activities, and we are excited to have found a base of operations for our researchers," said Bill Niaura, Director of New Business Development for Bridgestone Americas, Inc. "Every step we take brings us closer to our ultimate goal of developing new, domestic and sustainable sources for natural rubber; we look forward to breaking ground and getting started soon."
The research farm will include a multi-purpose office/laboratory building, greenhouses and a farming operation that is positioned to optimize guayule as a commercial crop that produces tire-grade rubber and complements the existing agricultural landscape. Groundbreaking is anticipated in the third quarter of 2012.
The process research center, anticipated to be built in nearby Mesa, will be home to a staff of 32 researchers and technicians and to the process that converts the guayule shrub into tire-grade rubber. Groundbreaking for the research center is planned to take place in early 2013. The facility is expected to be fully operational in 2014, with trial rubber production starting in 2015.
In March of this year, BSJ announced the Bridgestone Group's plans for an extensive research project in the United States dedicated to developing Guayule as a commercially viable, renewable source of high-quality natural rubber and as an alternative to the Hevea tree.
BSJ is providing the funding and strategic input for the effort, while BATO is responsible for selecting the site and operating the pilot farm and process research facility. BATO will also leverage the resources of the Bridgestone Americas Center for Research and Technology and its Akron Technical Center to provide technical and research expertise.
About Bridgestone Corporation:
Bridgestone Corporation (BSJ), headquartered in Tokyo, is the world’s largest tire and rubber company. In addition to tires for use in a wide variety of applications, it also manufactures a broad range of diversified products, which include industrial rubber and chemical products and sporting goods. Its products are sold in over 150 nations and territories around the world.
About Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations:
Nashville, Tenn.-based Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) is a business unit of Bridgestone Americas, Inc., whose parent company, Bridgestone Corporation, is the world's largest tire and rubber company. Reporting into the BATO business unit are the company's Latin American tire operations; the U.S. and Canadian consumer tire businesses; the U.S. and Canadian commercial tire businesses; and Bridgestone Retail Operations, LLC, which operates the largest network of company-owned automotive service providers in the world. BATO develops, manufactures and markets Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires. The business unit is focused on retail, wholesale and original equipment markets, supplying passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off road, motorcycle, agricultural and other tires, as well as retreads, to its customers in the Americas.