Tokyo – The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., is proud to announce that its Duotex conveyor belt received the Chairman's Award at the Japan Environmental Management Association for Industry (JEMAI) FY2016 Awards for Resources Recycling Technologies and Systems. Duotex was recognized for its durability and long service life and for having a rubber compound based on recycled raw materials. The award ceremony was held on October 14 at the Kikai Shinko Kaikan in Tokyo’s Minato Ward.

Yokohama Rubber launched the Duotex conveyor belt series on October 2012 for general-use conveyors transporting a wide variety of materials. The Duotex conveyor belts have contributed to increasing basic conveyor-belt performance by demonstrating excellent resistance to abrasion and flexural fatigue. To reduce environmental impact, the cover rubber and internal rubber skim coat are made from a compound having a higher ratio of recycled materials than the rubber on conventional conveyor belts. The rubber manufacturing process for Duotex currently uses 15–20 tonnes of recycled resources a month, mostly from used truck and bus tires. The high ratio of recycled materials used in the Duotex belts is representative of Yokohama Rubber’s 3R Program (Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle), an aggressive company-wide initiative promoting resource recycling.

The Awards for Resources Recycling Technologies and Systems was created in 1975 with the aim of recognizing and promoting technologies that contribute to waste reduction, reuse and recycling. One of the first award programs to recognize recycling and environmental protection efforts in Japan, the JEMAI Awards for Resources Recycling Technologies and Systems is sponsored by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. This year’s award is the latest in a series of recognitions to Yokohama Rubber’s environmentally-friendly products and efforts, which in the past has included (1) the FY2010 Clean Japan Center Chairman’s Award for efforts in reducing industrial waste by recycling used vulcanization bladder and developing a recyclable “e-can” container to distribute its two-component Hamatite sealing materials, (2) the FY2011 Clean Japan Center Chairman’s Award for reducing the use of rubber in the inner lining of pneumatic tires, and (3) in FY2013, like this year, an award for development of conveyor belts based on a compound using recycled raw materials while achieving a long usable lifecycle.