Goodyear, Visolis partner for bio-based isoprene

AKRON—Partnerships are critical to achieving net zero goals—just ask the world's largest tire makers.

Michelin, Continental, Bridgestone and Goodyear—along with many others—all have struck up collaborations to innovate in and around more sustainable materials.

Now Goodyear is adding Visolis Inc. to its sustainability arsenal, a Hayward, Calif.-based company that uses synthetic biology to manufacture high-performance, carbon-negative materials.

"We believe that innovation and collaboration is key to making progress along our sustainability journey and helping us achieve our goals, including net-zero value chain emissions by 2050," said Chris Helsel, senior vice president for global operations and chief technology officer for Goodyear. "By working with companies like Visolis, we are able to continue to learn, innovate and help build a better future."

In particular, Goodyear and Visolis will collaborate on bio-based isoprene, a building block for polyisoprene, which in turn is a foundational raw material for tires and other applications.

Isoprene typically is formed from the refinement of crude oil, then a catalyst is added to form polyisoprene. However, Visolis uses proprietary technology to generate isoprene from bio-waste, such as "lignocellulosic" feedstocks.

These non-edible biomass and agricultural materials have the potential to greatly reduce the traditional carbon production footprint for isoprene, according to Visolis.

"We are excited to collaborate with Goodyear and leverage our revolutionary technology to transform waste materials into valuable monomers," said Visolis CEO Deepak Dugar. "This partnership is a testament to our shared commitment to sustainable practices and the development of advanced materials that drive positive change."

Goodyear and Visolis will use money that Visolis received earlier this year through a Small Business Innovation Research grant.

The portfolio of Visolis' other partnerships reads like a who's who in the industry, as the company has collaborated with Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., Nikko Chemicals, the Department of Energy, the USDA, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The company works in developing zero-carbon, drop-in replacement materials for the personal care, cosmetics, apparel, aviation and transportation markets.

Visolis' products are based on concepts contained in biology and chemistry, whereby Visolis uses the most efficient system possible to develop a sustainable platform molecule.

After the bio-based platform molecule is produced, the company can use chemistry to make whatever material might be needed for a desired application.

Visolis had raised more than $8 million for its decarbonized ventures as of January, according to a Jan. 23 article in Forbes.com.

Goodyear has seen several sustainability breakthroughs in the last year itself, not the least of which was its 90-percent sustainable material rubber tire.

The company has said it plans to commercialize and sell a 70-percent sustainable materials tire by the end of this year.