Green Rubber is rolling in Brazil

Autotravi, a major South American automotive supplier based in Caxias do Sul, Brazil, started to produce window rubber seals made of bio-based ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (EPDM) from Lanxess. Autotravi supplies Marcopolo, a prominent Brazilian bus manufacturer, with seals made of Keltan Eco 5470. This weather-resistant synthetic rubber contains up to 70 percent ethylene obtained from sugarcane, and has an impressive set of properties that is in no way inferior to that of "conventional" EPDM. Due to the combination of a highly crystalline structure and a narrow molecular weight distribution, Keltan Eco 5470 is a very durable polymer. The end product displays high strength, as well as in addition to the ozone, UV and heat resistance typical of EPDM rubber products. Keltan 5470 and the "green" variation, Keltan Eco 5470, differ only in terms of the origin of the ethylene used in manufacturing. The switch from the conventional to the bio-based Keltan Eco 5470 imposes no requirements on users.