Synthetic rubber manufacturing process is highly polluting and contributing to the global warming, while natural rubber is clean and helps in reducing carbon from the air, according to experts.
Inaugurating the two-day India Rubber Meet (IRM-2015) here, former Chairman of the ISRO G Madhavan Nair said the carbon footprint of synthetic rubber was very high compared to the natural rubber.
Nair said the advantage of natural rubber is that "it is clean by itself by carbon sequestration" and that way it "reduces the carbon menace".
Experts at the conference also highlighted the carbon sequestration benefits of the natural rubber which is facing stiff competition from synthetic rubber produced from climate damaging petroleum byproducts.
Synthetic rubber manufacturing process is highly polluting thus contributing to the global warming experts added.
The global warming angle to the rubber manufacturing sector was brought at a time when the rubber growers in the country face huge crisis due to the cheap availability of products made out of synthetic rubber.
Over a million households in India are directly dependent on natural rubber plantations for their livelihood and they are gripped by the financial crisis following sharp fall in its price.
Earlier, politicians in Kerala, which is the largest rubber producing state in the country, had also spoken about carbon sequestration potential of rubber trees.
The conference is being organised by the Rubber Board, in association with with various stakeholders in rubber and allied sectors.
