We have successfully met or exceeded all the KPIs outlined in the FY24 project plan as Goodyear has continued its pursuit of fully replacing petroleum-based processing oils in its tire products by 2040. During this past year, Goodyear has launched three new tire products containing soybean oil, bringing the total number of Goodyear products containing soybean oil to eleven. We have also successfully developed, commercialized and implemented our first non-tread compound formulation in which petroleum-based oil is replaced with soybean oil. The non-tread compound is currently part of the EcoReady tire, Goodyear’s 70% sustainable material (by weight) tire.
The following is a brief description of our performance against each project deliverable:
Deliverable 1: Develop and release non-tread compound formulation replacing petroleum-based oil with soybean oil.
• Result: Met deliverable
• Details: A number of non-tread compound formulations are currently under development, but one non-tread compound received technical release in late 2023. The compound was industrialized and the EcoReady tire – Goodyear’s 70% sustainable material tire offering – employs this compound.
Deliverable 2: Develop tire product (passenger/light truck/commercial truck) in which soybean oil replaces petroleum-based oil in at least one component.
• Result: Exceeded deliverable
• Details: Goodyear launched three new products containing soybean oil in the last year. The EcoReady tire was launched in late 2023, and contains 70% sustainable materials by weight, including soybean oil. Goodyear also launched the ElectricDrive 2 tire, which contains up to 50% sustainable materials, including soybean oil. Recently, Goodyear launched the WeatherReady 2 tire, which is a successor product to the original Assurance WeatherReady. The original WeatherReady was Goodyear’s first commercialized product in which soybean oil was used to replace petroleum-based oils.
Deliverable 3: Produce and evaluate new polymer technology incorporating soybean oil, and develop soybean oil-containing alternative to existing oil-extended polymer products.
• Result: Met deliverable
• Details: Polymer samples were generated at our Akron Process Engineering Research facility and were evaluated in model compound formulations. Unfortunately, performance attributes of the experimental polymer samples did not meet the original targets. Due to business conditions and other polymer development priorities, this was not pursued further.
Deliverable 4: External promotion of Goodyear products and technology developments incorporating SBO
• Result: Exceeded deliverable
• Details: Multiple external and internal technical presentations were given during the year to promote the attributes of Goodyear’s soybean oil technology and overall sustainability goals. A significant focus in FY24 was for our government sales teams to attend multiple trade shows and educate customers and fleets about Goodyear’s soybean oil technology. Since January 2024, Goodyear has had representatives at 16 trade shows to promote these products. One highlight was a technical presentation at the 2024 Sustainable Fleet Technology Conference and Expo this past August.
Overall, Goodyear made significant progress toward fully replacing petroleum-based processing oils in its products by 2040. During this project, three new tire products containing soybean oil were launched, bringing the total number of products across product segments to eleven. We will continue to further our development activities in the years to come and anticipate additional soybean oil-containing product launches.