Germany – Hanover-based Continental AG has officially inaugurated its materials research laboratory, called 'Taraxagum Lab Anklam' in Anklam, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Teraxagum is the name given to a new alternative material to natural rubber, which can be extracted from a species of dandelion plant found in Russia. Representing an investment of EUR35m the facility covers an area of 30,000 square metres and was completed in November 2018 – just 12 months after the ground-breaking ceremony.

Staff at the new facility is to carry out research into Taraxagum with the goal of developing commercial farming opportunities of the dandelion plant alongside methods and processes suitable for extraction. The Russian dandelion was identified as an alternative raw material source to tropical rubber trees and its potential use in tyre manufacturing; its use, says Continental, will ease demand for rubber, greatly improve sustainability and assist in protecting the environment. Should test results prove positive, the tyre manufacturer is planning to introduce the raw material into serial production within ten years, in order to obtain an increasing proportion of its natural rubber demand from the dandelion plant.