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The company says it is spending more than $100 million on the effort, with an aim to commercialize natural rubber from guayule by 2030.

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Bridgestone Americas is backing a $70 million research initiative at the University of Arizona into the viability of the guayule shrub as a potential natural rubber source.

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) – In partnership with Bridgestone Americas Inc, researchers from the University of Arizona are developing a new, more sustainable variety of natural rubber.

The University of Arizona researchers are teaming up with Bridgestone Americas Inc. to develop a new variety of natural rubber from a more sustainable source that can be grown in the forbidding conditions of the arid Southwest.

The project, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Bridgestone, focuses on growing and processing guayule (pronounced why-OO-lee), a hardy, perennial shrub that could be an alternative source of natural rubber.

Researchers and tire companies hope drought-tolerant guayule can provide a sustainable economic boost to the water-stressed Southwest