General rubber goods sector

Natural rubber is derived from latex obtained from the sap of rubber trees. Its use ranges from household articles to industrial products. Tire and tube industries are the largest consumers of rubber and the remaining are taken up by general rubber goods (GRG) sector. A number of research studies have been carried out in the recent past on fabrication and characterization of OPF-NR composites. 

This section will review the different technologies that are currently available for the devulcanisation of waste rubber from waste tyres, or from products in the general rubber goods (GRG) sector. Devulcanisation, although important, is only one way of recycling waste rubber and the extensive range of other technologies that have been developed for this purpose are covered in later sections of this book e.g., crumb manufacture and the use of crumb in the production of a variety of different products are reviewed in Chapters 6 and 7. 

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