In the same way that petroleum and natural gas provided the basis for an enormous petrochemicals industry beginning over 50 years ago, living plant-based materials are being used to create a clean, bio-based chemicals industry today.

Yulex CEO Jeff Martin addresses executives at the Next Generation Bio-Based Chemicals Conference.

Martin spoke on a panel that also included companies like OPX Biotechnologies, a Boulder, Colo. startup commercializing a bio-based acrylic, and Huntsman, a Texas-based global manufacturer of chemicals, which is developing bio-based surfactants.

Martin explained to the crowd how Yulex had profitably advanced and commercialized natural rubber latex materials from guayule from its base of operations in the U.S. Southwest. He also touched on the company’s plans for expanding its production facility and expanding into Western Texas as well as Australia where it already has a foothold.

“Without natural rubber, literally the country doesn’t roll,” said Martin about the critical strategic importance of rubber in the U.S. economy.

The company’s rubber yields from guayule have grown significantly in recent years through selective breeding alone, Martin said. Now the yield per acre is on par with that of a rubber tree plantation, and Martin said a geneticist has joined the company’s team to help enhance rubber latex production through a ramped up natural breeding program. 

With 40,000 products made from natural rubber, Yulex is carefully targeting higher value products including high end sporting equipment and apparel as well as the existing medical markets it supplies. The company has achieved profitability based on its current business model, but Martin said there is value in the plant’s resins which are similar to pine resins used in many consumer and industrial products especially for adhesive applications.

Guayule biomass is also being explored as a source for biofuels. Currently, the bagasse or leftover plant material at the company’s Maricopa, Arizona facility is sold to Scott’s Miracle Gro which is able to use the product as part of its famous line of fertilizer products. However, Martin said that the bagasse could be used to generate energy for the Yulex production plant and for sale. 

Yulex currently works closely with several Arizona Indian tribes ensuring land and water is available for guayule cultivation, and Martin explained that many former cotton growers have found the switch to guayule an easy one as the planting and harvesting practices are comparable, although guayule requires less water once established. Martin described cotton as a “failing industry” in the U.S. noting that 50 years ago, there were 30 million acres of cotton growing here, and that today there is less than 9 million. Finding crops that help growers in the U.S. Southwest diversify is an additional benefit that Yulex Corp. brings to the region.

For more, see http://yulex.com.

With trade from Southeast Asia cut off and rubber essential to the U.S. war effort, the guayule rubber produced in Salinas became a national security issue overnight.

A key difference between guayule then and now was that in the 1940s, the guayule cultivated could only be harvested for its rubber after seven years of growth. Today, 12 to 20 months is all that’s needed for the guayule that Yulex Corporation and its partners cultivate to mature, and it’s harvested once per year with far more rubber latex produced from each plant! (To learn more about guayule’s history, visit the Guayule Timeline at Yulex.com)

It was also around World War II that U.S. scientists discovered how to make synthetic rubber from petroleum-based materials, and once the war ended, the U.S. focused on synthetic rubber and latex as the primary alternative to natural, imported sources. As Jim Albanese writes in his ‘Wayback Machine’ column in The Salinas Californian:

“In 1945, the last year of the war, 1,628 acres of guayule were harvested in the Salinas Valley. An additional 7,429 acres were planted but never harvested. Those plants were subsequently destroyed.

If only we’d had a little more faith and patience with guayule. Today, the humble plant is a godsend to medical professionals and patients, offering its juices to provide nonallergenic gloves and other equipment.”

Too true, Jim, but it’s not just medical patients and latex allergy sufferers who have embraced guayule today. It has also been discovered by the manufacturers of everyday consumer products. Specifically, they’ve discovered its benefits as a safe, renewable material over synthetic petroleum-based materials.

And from that perspective, at least one thing hasn’t changed: guayule is still being used to save the planet.

“Clean new technologies make it possible to extract natural rubber, latex, ethanol, non-toxic adhesives and other specialty chemicals from guayule….

Yulex Corp. has been positioning Arizona as the epicenter of a new domestic industry based on guayule.”

According to the article, an estimated 50 to 100 acres of guayule are grown in the Yuma area, which is one of several agricultural districts in Arizona producing guayule for Yulex Corporation.

Yulex CEO Jeffrey Martin will present “Using Sustainability as a Guide for Business Growth,” sharing his experience taking Yulex Corporation and its sustainable model from concept to commercial success.

The presentation is 4 p.m. Saturday and is part of a track organized by Local First Arizona (LFA), a non-profit organization working to strengthen communities and local economies. Local First Arizona educates citizens, stakeholders, business leaders, and legislators about the significant environmental, economic, and cultural benefits of strong local economies.

This 2nd annual event has grown substantially from its roots at Arizona State University, and is supported by the Global Institute of Sustainability at ASU, the Green Buildings Council of Arizona, and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council among others.