US launch for Goodyear’s soybean truck tyres

This week, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company achieved a further step towards its goal of fully replacing petroleum-derived oils by 2040. Selected products within the Goodyear Metro Miler range, a city transit tyre available to customers in North America, are now produced using a bio-based soybean oil compound that replaces a portion of the petroleum-based materials used.

Metro Miler G152 and G652 are the first models available with soybean oil. Goodyear states that although they contain less petroleum-based materials, the tyres will deliver the same performance benefits.

“The use of soybean oil in the majority of the Metro Miler G152 and G652 tyres in production today is a significant Goodyear innovation that reduces the amount of petroleum-based materials needed for production,” says Dustin Lancy, commercial product marketing manager, Goodyear North America. “In these tyres, soybean oil replaces about 11 liquid ounces (325ml) of free-flowing petroleum oil per tyre – almost as much as a traditional soda can. Multiply that by a bus fleet of 1,600 buses, about the size used by some major metropolitan cities in the US, and that could mean the use of around 20 fewer barrels of oil.”

Surplus oil utilised

Goodyear says this change underscores its commitment to using more sustainable bio-based raw materials while continuing to deliver quality and performance in its products. It adds that the new formulation in production today uses a readily available surplus of soybean oil that is left over from food applications in the marketplace.