Continental Tire has inaugurated its research laboratory named “Taraxagum Lab Anklam” in Anklam, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany, and presented it to the public.

The new center will be set as base for future research on farming and the extraction process of Russian dandelion as an alternative raw material source to the rubber tree in the tropics.

At the opening, Nikolai Setzer, member of the Executive Board of Continental AG and head of the Tire division, said, “We are proud to inaugurate this lighthouse project today. We are the first tire manufacturer in the world to invest such a significant amount in industrializing dandelion rubber. We see Russian dandelion as an important alternative and complementary to conventional natural rubber from hevea brasiliensis allowing us to meet rising global demand in an environmentally compatible and reliable way.” Additionally, the investment in the new research laboratory is another technological milestone on the road to implement the Vision 2025 Continental has developed for its tire business. “As part of our Vision 2025 strategy, we have invested far more than € 2 billion in production, research, and development as well as in jobs and new products worldwide since 2011. 2018, Anklam now features prominently in the series of unique projects in Europe, America, and Asia,” highlighted Setzer.

“We have been working to understand the molecular basis of the rubber biosynthesis in the dandelion plant for many years. This biological understanding has now brought industrial use within reach. With the new test laboratory, Continental has broken new ground that makes this transfer concept highly visible,” emphasized Dirk Prüfer, Professor of Plant Biotechnology at the University of Münster (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster – WWU) and site director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Münster branch.

Tagged: Dirk Prüfer

Continental opens new research center for Dandelion Rubber