Producing one ton of synthetic rubber generates 10.2 tons of CO₂ throughout its full life cycle, ranging from crude oil extraction to final disposal. China’s annual carbon emissions stemming from synthetic rubber exceed 50 million tons.

Low-carbon transformation of the rubber industry is easier said than done. Raw materials are heavily reliant on petrochemical routes, while alternative solutions either compromise performance or come with excessive costs, making it difficult to balance environmental friendliness and high performance.

On May 22, at the Bio-based Materials for Textile, Footwear & Apparel Forum of the 11th Bio-based Conference & Exhibition (Bio-based 2026), Wang Hao, General Manager of the Bio-based Rubber Division of Chambroad Sinopoly., delivered a speech titled Development and Industrialized Application of High-Performance Bio-based Itaconate Rubber. He shared the solution proposed by Chambroad Sinopoly— bio-based itaconate rubber, along with its complete journey from laboratory research to thousand-ton industrialization.

[The following content is compiled from the speech with excerpts omitted]

01 Why Is It Hard for the Rubber Industry to Break Away from Petrochemical Feedstocks?

Global climate governance is accelerating steadily. From the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Climate Pact, carbon reduction targets have been tightened repeatedly. Major economies are rolling out policies to scale up bio-based materials, including the EU Net Zero Industry Act, the U.S. National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative, and China’s 14th Five-Year Plan for Bioeconomic Development issued by the National Development and Reform Commission.

Nevertheless, the green transition of the rubber sector has long been blocked by an unavoidable bottleneck: raw material supply.

Most existing bio-based rubber technologies adopt food crops such as corn and sugarcane as feedstocks, which have drawn constant criticism for competing with food production. For China, a country with limited per capita arable land, food-based routes are inherently unsustainable.

Against this backdrop, non-food biomass routes have become the industry’s core focus. The Three-Year Action Plan for Accelerating Innovation and Development of Non-Food Bio-based Materials, jointly released by six Chinese government ministries, explicitly prioritizes the production of bio-based rubber from non-food raw materials as a key supported technological path.

02 Corn Cobs to Rubber: The World’s Pioneering Non-Food Production Route

Chambroad Sinopoly selects corn cobs and agricultural straw as raw materials — agricultural waste that occupies no cultivated land and does not compete with grain crops.

Its technical process consists of four steps: non-food biomass undergoes biological fermentation to produce itaconic acid and monohydric alcohols; itaconic acid reacts with monohydric alcohols via esterification to form itaconate monomers; emulsion polymerization is then carried out to synthesize itaconate rubber; the final product is mixed and vulcanized for downstream manufacturing. The bio-based itaconate rubber (Bio-ItBR) developed through this route achieves a maximum bio-based carbon content of 60% and cuts CO₂ emissions by 1.44 tons per ton of output. Moreover, its performance matches or even surpasses that of traditional synthetic rubbers in high-demand scenarios including tires, conveyor belts and footwear materials.

Source: Wang Hao, Development and Industrialized Application of High-Performance Bio-based Itaconate Rubber

The industrialization of this technology has spanned seven years and is still advancing.

In 2019, Chambroad Sinopoly launched strategic cooperation with Academician Zhang Liqun’s research team to jointly conduct molecular structural design and R&D of itaconate rubber. The project obtained approval under the national 13th Five-Year Key R&D Program in 2020 and secured another grant under the 14th Five-Year Key R&D Program in 2022, receiving sustained national-level support. From 2021 to 2022, the world’s first thousand-ton demonstration production line for bio-based rubber was completed and put into operation. The project outcomes were appraised as internationally advanced by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, which recommended large-scale promotion.

Notably, Chambroad Sinopoly has established full-industry-chain traceability certification and obtained the international ISCC PLUS certification, enabling full verification of bio-based origins from raw materials to finished products.

03 Two-Segment Molecular Design: Balancing Eco-Friendliness and High Performance

Bio-based materials are frequently questioned for inferior performance compared with conventional alternatives. Chambroad Sinopoly’s breakthrough in molecular structural design serves as the core solution to address such doubts.

The molecular chain of Bio-ItBR comprises two functional segments:

The butadiene segment delivers excellent compatibility and co-vulcanization performance with other synthetic rubbers, supporting fundamental mechanical properties such as abrasion resistance, fatigue resistance and high resilience.

The itaconate segment differentiates this material from conventional rubbers: its ester structure delivers outstanding compatibility with polyester and nylon tire cords; the saturated main chain endows high-temperature resistance, anti-aging, ozone resistance and anti-yellowing performance; the large side groups provide excellent dry and wet skid resistance.

Source: Wang Hao, Development and Industrialized Application of High-Performance Bio-based Itaconate Rubber

Another advantage of this structure lies in its adjustability: the type of ester groups, copolymerization ratio and third monomer can be flexibly modified, allowing the same technical platform to be customized for vastly different application scenarios including tires, footwear and protective gloves.

Simply put, the butadiene segment delivers robust mechanical performance, while the itaconate segment delivers versatile adaptability — this is the fundamental reason why a single material can be applied across three distinct fields: tires, shoe soles and protective gloves.

Currently, Chambroad Sinopoly has developed four solid rubber grades and one latex grade with a maximum bio-based carbon content of 60%. A complete set of equipment ranging from 2L lab test reactors to a 20m³ thousand-ton pilot plant has been fully constructed.

Source: Wang Hao, Development and Industrialized Application of High-Performance Bio-based Itaconate Rubber

04 From Lab to Market: Field Verification Across Multiple Scenarios

Technological breakthroughs require market validation. To date, bio-based itaconate rubber has achieved commercialization in multiple high-standard application fields.

Footwear Materials: Performance Advantages Behind Bestselling Rain Boots

Multiple hit products have been developed in the footwear sector relying on itaconate rubber. The material boasts remarkable dry and wet skid resistance, effectively improving the safety and practicality of footwear products. Chambroad Sinopoly collaborated with downstream customers to develop the world’s first pair of bio-based rubber rain boots, which stood out for superior quality and was named a Benchmark Hit Product at the 2025 Global Biosphere Reserves Conference. The product has gained an excellent reputation and wide recognition in European and North American outdoor markets thanks to its reliable performance.

Source: Wang Hao, Development and Industrialized Application of High-Performance Bio-based Itaconate Rubber

Conveyor Belts: Deployed at Iron Ore Mines in Australia

Conveyor belt applications impose extremely high requirements on material abrasion and weather resistance. Chambroad Sinopoly and downstream partners jointly developed the world’s first bio-based conveyor belt, which has been delivered to Rio Tinto and officially put into service at iron ore mines in Australia — completing convincing operational verification from laboratory development to real mine operating environments.

Source: Wang Hao, Development and Industrialized Application of High-Performance Bio-based Itaconate Rubber

Transmission Belts: Strategic Cooperation with China’s Leading Rubber V-Belt Manufacturer

Transmission belts demand outstanding dynamic fatigue resistance; materials must maintain structural stability and durable performance under frequent, long-term cyclic bending, a core indicator for measuring material reliability. Chambroad Sinopoly has entered into in-depth strategic cooperation with Sanlux Co., Ltd., a domestic leader in rubber V-belts. Leveraging its industry-leading position and technical accumulation, combined with the excellent flex and fatigue resistance of itaconate rubber, the two parties jointly develop high-performance transmission belt material solutions to break product lifespan bottlenecks and drive industrial upgrading.

Source: Wang Hao, Development and Industrialized Application of High-Performance Bio-based Itaconate Rubber

Protective Gloves: Soft, Skin-Friendly Bio-based Rubber Gloves Enter Mainstream European and American Markets

Targeting glove manufacturing scenarios, Chambroad Sinopoly completed molecular functional modification of Bio-ItBR and launched high-performance bio-based itaconate latex. Its comprehensive mechanical properties are comparable to premium carboxylated nitrile latex (XNBR), delivering finished gloves that are soft, comfortable and skin-friendly. Thanks to eco-friendly attributes and superior user experience, this series of bio-based protective gloves has been mass-exported to mainstream European and American markets, with overseas application layout continuously expanding.

Source: Wang Hao, Development and Industrialized Application of High-Performance Bio-based Itaconate Rubber

05 Thousand-Ton Capacity Falls Short; Ten-Thousand-Ton Plant Under Planning

Accelerated commercialization has brought a pleasant challenge: existing production capacity cannot meet market demand.

Chambroad Sinopoly’s current thousand-ton production line is unable to satisfy market requirements. In 2024, the ten-thousand-ton itaconate rubber plant obtained project approval, and Chambroad Sinopoly plans to prioritize the capacity expansion project between 2026 and 2027.

It took three to four years to scale production from lab scale to 1,000 tons. The roadmap to reach 10,000 tons is now clear; the core challenge has shifted from original technological breakthrough to widespread market adoption and diversified application development. During his speech, Wang Hao explicitly called for stronger collaboration between upstream and downstream industrial partners to expand the bio-based rubber industry ecosystem, as unlocking end-use applications holds the key to industrial growth.

Maturing technology and product portfolio have enabled Chambroad Sinopoly to showcase more achievements at this year’s conference.

At the concurrent exhibition of Bio-based 2026, Chambroad Sinopoly showcased bio-based itaconate rubber, ISCC PLUS certified butyl rubber and other products at its booth, alongside physical displays of bio-based gloves, footwear materials, damping components and other finished applications.