OIL-BASED NEOPRENE and LIMESTONE NEOPRENE

OIL-BASED NEOPRENE

Neoprene is a synthetic rubber first developed by DuPont in the 1930s. It's made by mixing together melted polychloroprene chips, a foaming agents and pigments, then baking the mixture together to form a thick sponge. Traditionally, petroleum products have been used to make polychloroprene chips. Therefore, making the material requires drilling, harvesting, transporting and consuming a non-renewable resource called petroleum. Clearly, these should occur an environmental cost.

LIMESTONE NEOPRENE

Oil is a finite resource, and extracting, processing, and transporting it is energy-intensive and potentially dangerous. Limestone is also a finite resource. However, it is much more abundant and harvesting it has less environmental impact. It has been used for countless purposes over the centuries, and now Yamamoto from Japan has perfected the technique of making neoprene from limestone. Instead of using petroleum products to make polychloroprene chips, the key component of neoprene, Yamamoto used calcium carbonate from limestone. This change resulted in a greener neoprene with significant benefits for the environment and wetsuit users.