BASSANO DEL GRAPPA, Italy—Lightweight, wear-resistant polyurethane tires developed from a three-way Italian collaboration are being used in agricultural seeding machines.
Mecaplast S.a.S, an injection molding company, API S.p.A., a thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer maker, and Tecnostamp S.r.L., which makes molds, are collaborating to create the Green Life Tire.
API says that the tire is an innovative green alternative to tires currently manufactured in vulcanized rubber. The tires are used widely in precision seeding machines that position seeds correctly and then compress and cover the seeds in the ground.
API says that polyurethane tires are more wear resistant than rubber tores. Additionally, the tires are made from API's Apilon 52 family of material, which, the company says, makes the tires 100 percent recyclable.