News

　Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is pleased to announce that our flagship DUNLOP ENASAVE NEXT III fuel-efficient tires (released in Japan in December of 2019) have received the “Prize of Director General of Agency for Natural Resources and Energy” in the “Energy Conservation Best Products & Business Models Category” at the “2020 Energy Conservation Grand Prize” Awards, which are sponsored by The Energy Conservation Center, Japan.

 

　Our ENASAVE NEXT III was selected for this prestigious award from among many nominees in the Transportation Sector after being evaluated and receiving high marks in terms of six judgment criteria: 1) Development Process, 2) Spirit of Innovation & Originality, 3) Energy Conservation Potential, 4) Resource Saving & Recycling Potential, 5) Marketability & Economic Efficiency and 6) Environmental Friendliness & Safety. In particular, our flagship tires received high acclaim for their groundbreaking adoption of innovative new materials, developed using our own proprietary technology, in order to reduce overall tire weight while at the same time providing outstanding handling and stability. The successful development and adoption of these advanced new materials has opened the door to a world of possibilities for further improvements in terms of energy conversation in the near future.
　Receiving the trophy on behalf of the Sumitomo Rubber Group, Senior Executive Officer Kiyoshige Muraoka spoke of our strong commitment to furthering this line of developmentin the future. “We were able to overcome the myriad issues involved in adopting these new materials and ultimately bring ENASAVE NEXT III to fruition thanks to the tireless hard work of our materials developers as well as our materials supplier partners. Moving forward, we will continue working to make these innovations to further generalize the use of tires toward the realization of a more sustainable society.” 
 

Senior Executive Officer Kiyoshige Muraoka with Trophy

　Thanks to the adoption of “Hydrogenated Polymer,” which is completely different from the conventional types of polymer used in previous tires, ENASAVE NEXT III achieves a significant reduction in the degradation of wet grip performance that occurs over time, thereby allowing these tires to maintain like-new performance for longer. At the same time, these are also the world’s first^※ tires to incorporate “Cellulose Nanofiber,” a high-performance biomass material whose development and proliferation the Government of Japan is currently promoting as a key industry initiative. Thanks to these innovative new materials, ENASAVE NEXT III not only attains the highest possible ratings for fuel efficiency and wet grip under Japan’s tire labeling system (AAA-a), but also contributes to the reduction of overall environmental impact from the perspective of “Life Cycle Assessment.”
　The Sumitomo Rubber Group will continue to push ahead with the development of advanced products that, in addition to fully meeting the diverse needs of our customers, are also more environmentally friendly, all based on our “SMART TYRE CONCEPT,” a forward-thinking development concept that aims to create a future that is free of automobile accidents through the development and proliferation of tires and peripheral services that ensure greater safety and peace of mind.
※Based on our in-house research.

■ “Energy Conservation Grand Prize” Awards Profile
Recognizing outstanding efforts to conserve energy as well as advanced energy-efficient products developed by companies throughout Japan’s industrial, service and transportation sectors, the “Energy Conservation Grand Prize” Awards aim to contribute to the realization of a more energy-efficient society by raising awareness of energy conservation and promoting the proliferation of energy-efficient products. With over 110 nominees in the running for awards in 2020, a panel of academics and other experts on energy, etc. deliberated carefully before awarding 27 prizes in the “Energy Conservation Best Practices Category” and 29 prizes in the “Energy Conservation Best Products & Business Models Category.”