A New Value Chain for Rubber and Inulin Production in the European BioEconomy

‘DRIVE4EU - Dandelion Rubber and Inulin Valorization and Exploitation for Europe’, a demonstration project, aims at the development of a value chain for natural rubber and inulin from Rubber dandelions. The objective of the project is to set up a new European chain for the production and processing of natural rubber. This will enable the EU to become less dependent on the import of natural rubber and at the same time to respond to the threat of a global rubber shortage. The viability of using Rubber dandelions for rubber and inulin production depends on the sustainability of this new value chain. The results of a general economic assessment shows that the total costs over the whole value chain are dominated by the costs for cultivation and harvesting and the cost for biorefining. The combination of natural rubber and inulin makes Rubber dandelion very interesting as a production platform.