Tyre manufacturing company Continental on Thursday opened a laboratory in the German city of Anklam for the purpose of researching how rubber can be sustainably manufactured from dandelions.

Continental is researching the industrialization of rubber from the roots of Russian dandelion plants. It is an effort to find an alternative to rubber from the rain forest, while at the same time reducing CO2 emissions.

The technology to extract the rubber was developed by the University of Muenster, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft institute and the Julius Kuehn Institute.

Plastic from tyres has been determined as a major source of ocean pollution. Debris from tyre abrasion is particularly harmful for the environment.