Rubber is used the world over for a wide range of industrial and consumer products. Natural rubber comes primarily from the Far East while the United States, France, Germany, and Russia have developed synthetic rubber and are its leading suppliers.
North America’s leading manufacturers of rubber products create innovative custom rubber molded products. Some products include fine flooring and high-performance rubber to metal, rubber to plastic, rubber to fabric, and rubber to glass applications in the automotive industry and for industrial applications.
Traditional Uses for Rubber
MoldTech, Proseals, and Minor Rubber make a wide variety of rubber products including automotive seals, hoses, o-rings, and grommets, as well as custom molded rubber and plastic. Monmouth Rubber and Plastic Corp. (MRPC) creates closed-cell sponge rubber and plastic foam bonds as well as closed and open solid rubber plastic sheets. And Japan’s Sanyu (USA) manufactures rubber injection presses, silicon presses, and automation machinery for rubber plants in the Americas.
Rubicon is a leading extruder manufacturer. Jefferson Rubber Works of Worcester, Massachusetts, supplies custom molded rubber products. And Mannington Mills, Inc. of New Jersey is a leading manufacturer of fine flooring, commercial street vinyl, luxury vinyl, laminates, and more.
Many of these companies, as well as Flexan, Tactical Sealing Technology (TST), and Oliver Rubber have expanded overseas in countries like China where high demand for custom molded rubber seals, tread rubber, and thermoplastics is high.
Rubber Tires Rubber Recycling Rubber Product (Image Courtesy www.globalshopsolutions.com)
Biology Derived Rubber Products
Some of these traditional uses of rubber may soon be revolutionized by the creation of biology-derived, value added rubber products that could mean billions of dollars in revenue growth for companies like Goodyear Tire & Rubber, DuPont, Archer Daniels Midland, and Solazyme.
Rubber Recycling on the Rise
A new and growing market is the manufacture of high-quality molded recycled rubber mats and flooring as is carried out by Humane Manufacturing. According to the Rubber Manufactures Association (RMA), the national trade association for tire manufacturers in the US and North America produces more than 350 million waste rubber vehicle tires a year. And today, rubber waste is being turned into mouse pads, sports bags, shoe soles, and automobile components.
The following video features Global Rubber Industries (GRI) from Sri Lanka, a leading supplier of tires worldwide.
