Within ETE, Wilma Dierkes is the main researcher of ‘Sustainable Elastomer Systems’, SES. Together with the emeritus professor Jacques Noordermeer and the former PhD student Siti Saiwari, she wrote a chapter in the new book on ‘Rubber recycling – Challenges and Developments’. One of the challenges in recycling of rubber is the fact, that most rubber products contain more than one elastomer, and even more than one component. Tires are a prime example of such a multi-component composite material. The work described in the chapter is the basis for the devulcanization of tires, to be re-used as feedstock for new tires.
