01 Feedstock
Ore, monomer, fibre, mineral or scrap that can legally become Natural rubber.
Natural rubber · Cis-1,4-polyisoprene from Hevea — tyres still drink most of the world’s latex.
Making Natural rubber is a chain: feedstock, conversion (Mesoamerican use / Goodyear 1839 / Wickham 1876), forming, heat, finish, install.
Skip a step and the properties chapter is describing a different object.
Ore, monomer, fibre, mineral or scrap that can legally become Natural rubber.
Mesoamerican use / Goodyear 1839 / Wickham 1876
Cast, spin, weave, sinter, foam, laminate or coat — the step that sets anisotropy.
Temper, vulcanise, calcine or dry: skip it and the datasheet is fiction.
Coatings, sizings, facers, galvanizing, anodising, painting.
Fasteners, adhesives, DFT, compression, dryness — site quality is a material property.
Virgin route around Amazonia → Malaysia.
Recycling exists but quality or energy often disappoints.
High-spec grades leave the commodity mill.
Coatings, sprays, casts — the factory is sometimes a jobsite.
Feedstock to installed product.
Energy in, class out.
Melting/softening elastomer; decomposes on heat; conductivity ~0.15 W/m·K.
Moisture, UV, chlorides, alkalis or oxygen — pick the one that actually kills Natural rubber.
Fire class combustible; tyres are a fire load is a starting letter, not a wall rating.
Process energy and scrap quality belong in the carbon passport, not in a footnote.
The world’s volume plastic — bags, bottles, pipes and the UHMWPE cousin in medical and ballistic fibre.
Overall 40 🍳Plunkett’s slippery fluoropolymer — non-stick, chemical linings and a high-temp plastic that still has a fire-and-fume story.
Overall 41 🫧Si–O backbone elastomers and resins — bakeware, medical tubing, façade sealants and a kinder high-temp story than carbon chains.
Overall 55