Green tires will become the development goal of the domestic tire industry.

In recent years, China's tire exports have faced technical barriers such as tire labeling laws and trade frictions. Many countries have raised their requirements for tire performance, and more countries are brewing or have already implemented tire labeling regulations. For example, Japan has implemented a voluntary tire labeling system since 2010, the United States passed regulations containing tire labeling provisions six years ago, and the European Union and South Korea will implement mandatory tire labeling regulations starting November 1 of this year, at which point the global market share of green tires will increase by more than 15%.

In contrast, the vague definition of green tires, lack of standards, and insufficient testing methods in China have restricted the upgrading of the tire industry and the adjustment of product structure.

Fan Rende, president of the China Rubber Industry Association (hereinafter referred to as "CRIA"), stated at the "2012 China Rubber Annual Conference" that the tire industry in China has reached a consensus on promoting the industrialization of green tires. The association will refer to the EU tire labeling law and REACH regulations, and in conjunction with China's energy-saving and consumption-reduction requirements, formulate industrialization regulations for green tires that are suitable for national conditions. Industry insiders believe this means that China's green tire industrialization strategy has officially started, which will provide a clear direction for the adjustment of the tire industry and technological upgrading.

The industrialization of green tires is imminent.

"By labeling tires with tags similar to refrigerator energy efficiency labels, we can promote tire performance improvement through grading indicators such as fuel consumption and grip on wet roads, thereby achieving energy saving and environmental protection," said Fan Rende. He noted that China has just started to formulate similar standards and norms, and there is a gap compared to the US, Japan, and Europe. He called for learning from the EU's integrated model of enterprises, government, and associations to formulate national standards, provide certain subsidies to compliant enterprises, and promote the industrialization of green tires in stages, thereby promoting technological upgrading in the tire industry, curbing investment impulses, enhancing industry concentration, increasing product international competitiveness, and improving the international image of Chinese products. According to the plan, China aims for 50% of enterprises to produce green tires and 25% of enterprises' green tire output to exceed that of ordinary radial tires. "Currently, more than 40% of the tires produced in China are exported, with the EU being the largest export market for Chinese automotive tires. Although the EU's REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals) and tire labeling regulations are typical non-tariff trade barriers, they also represent an important opportunity for the transformation and upgrading of China's tire industry, forcing China to quickly adjust the industrial structure of the tire industry, implement a low-carbon economic strategy, and promote the industrialization of green tires," said Fan Rende.

He revealed that the association had previously organized relevant enterprises to visit Europe and conducted training on tire labeling laws. The next step for the association will be to formulate a green tire industrialization regulation that aligns with international standards and is suitable for national conditions.

According to Zhao Wenquan, deputy secretary-general of CRIA and director of the Technical Economic Committee, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has held a roundtable meeting with relevant EU parties on the issue of green tires and has agreed in principle to establish a project on green tire soft topics. The self-regulatory standard formulation work for green tire products led by CRIA has also been initiated. This standard will mainly refer to international standards and regulations such as the EU labeling law and REACH, limiting indicators such as tire rolling resistance, wet performance, and noise, while also including energy consumption, pollutant emissions, retreading, and compensation indicators based on China's actual situation. After the self-regulatory standard is released, further applications for industry standards and national standards will be made.

Many tire company leaders have stated that although the industrialization of green tires is quite challenging and requires innovation in raw materials and processes, it is essential to establish green tire standards and improve related testing methods as soon as possible to achieve product upgrades and increase international market share. The high performance of tires is an inevitable trend.

The overall requirements for green tires include three aspects: first, the greening of raw materials, meaning that raw materials are non-toxic and harmless, complying with EU REACH standards; second, the greening of the production process, achieving low energy consumption, low noise, low dust, and low emissions; third, the greening of products, meeting requirements for fuel efficiency, safety, high wear resistance, and retrievability.

Among these, high-performance raw materials are of great significance to green tires. Experts believe that with the implementation of tire labeling laws in multiple countries and regions, as well as the increase in China's energy-saving and emission-reduction targets, the high performance of tires will become an inevitable trend.

Industry insiders point out that solution polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber (SSBR) can be used as tread rubber for high-performance tires, significantly improving tire performance. However, due to cost and processing technology considerations, most Chinese tire companies use slightly cheaper emulsion polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber, resulting in a lower usage of high-performance SSBR. Moreover, domestic SSBR is only equivalent to the first or second generation of foreign products, while foreign countries have now developed third, fourth, and even fifth generation SSBR. The former has certain gaps in product series and quality compared to the requirements of tire companies.

"The low demand for SSBR and the relatively low processing application conditions for domestic tires, as well as the small proportion of high-end cars, are all related. Therefore, SSBR production companies should increase their technological investment, expand the variety of SSBR products, and strive to improve product quality," said industry experts.

It is understood that in recent years, China has carried out many research and development and technological reforms on styrene-butadiene rubber, such as Dalian University of Technology's School of Chemical Engineering and Yanshan Petrochemical Research Institute synthesizing styrene-butadiene block copolymers using n-butyllithium as an initiator. Compared with ordinary solution polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber, this copolymer not only has good physical and mechanical properties but also has low rolling resistance and high wet slip resistance.