Environment | Value natural resources
Action1: Reduce raw material consumption

Given the increase in demand accompanying population growth and people’s desires for more convenient lifestyles, there are concerns that, if nothing changes, the demand for raw materials will exceed the Earth’s capacity. Avoiding this will require constructing systems to decouple the environmental footprint caused by growing demand. To succeed in decoupling, the Bridgestone Group is taking steps to improve our resource productivity.

In the case of tires, for example, the Group foresees both an ongoing requirement for lower fuel consumption and continuous environmental performance improvements without sacrificing comfort and safety functionalities. At the same time, the Group promotes new business models and the development of technology for reducing the volume of raw materials used to make each product.

A thinner tire is a lighter tire, which improves fuel economy and also saves resources by using less raw materials. However, making a tire thinner requires first ensuring sufficient durability, and developing new tough materials that exceed existing technology. Bridgestone participated in the Japanese Cabinet Office’s ImPACT^*1 initiative by conducting research aimed at creating an ultrathin, durable, flexible and tough polymer. The Company announced its research results in 2018.

Through this research, the Company was able to develop a groundbreaking rubber material by improving material property by 15 percent, thereby contributing to better fuel economy, while realizing a fivefold increase in tear strength. Currently, it is making and evaluating prototypes of tires using the new rubber material for commercialization by the early 2020s. The Group will continue to pursue material use reduction and better fuel economy toward a sustainable society.

For more information, see “Double-Network Rubber Boasting Flexibility and Toughness for Realizing Both Fuel Efficiency and Durability.”

1. The Impulsing Paradigm Change through Disruptive Technologies Program (ImPACT) aims to generate innovative technologies that if realized would revolutionize industry and society. It was established to promote high-risk, high-impact, ambitious research and development.