Photo: Continental
Back in the fall, German automotive company Continental unveiled a new tire concept called Conti GreenConcept. It is made from more than 50 percent renewable or recycled materials, including polyester from recycled plastic bottles. Now, the first such tires have just been launched.
The GreenConcept tire presented in 2021 at the IAA Mobility event consists (among others) of 17 percent recycled materials such as reclaimed steel, recovered carbon black, and recycled polyester yarn obtained from PET plastic bottles. The latter is used for the tire’s casing and Continental boasts of this being an industry’s first, with these tires being made using the company’s ContiRe.Tex technology, which was brought to the production stage in just eight months.
According to the manufacturer, this technology is more efficient because it doesn’t involve any intermediate chemical steps. PET bottles are thus processed into high-performance polyester yarns, after they’re first sorted, have their caps removed, they’re mechanically cleaned and shredded. A set of standard passenger car tires uses around 40 recycled PET bottles.
Continental says it will first use this material in its AllSeasonContact tire, PremiumContact 6, and EcoContact 6 summer tires, in five sizes for each (you can find them here). All the tires made with the ContiRe.Tex technology will be produced in Continental’s plant in Lousado, Portugal, and will have a “Contains Recycled Material” logo on the sidewall.
In addition to being environmentally friendly, these tires also bring other benefits. As explained by Continental, “the textile cords in the polyester yarn from PET bottles absorb the forces of the tire’s internal pressure and remain dimensionally stable even under high loads and temperatures”.
The polyester yarn made from recycled PET bottles is just an example of the German manufacturer’s attempt to switch toward sustainable materials, a goal that it plans to achieve by 2050. Its GreenConcept tire also uses more than 35 percent renewable materials such as natural rubber from dandelions, vegetable oils, resins, as well as silicate from the ash of rice husks.
According to the manufacturer, this technology is more efficient because it doesn’t involve any intermediate chemical steps. PET bottles are thus processed into high-performance polyester yarns, after they’re first sorted, have their caps removed, they’re mechanically cleaned and shredded. A set of standard passenger car tires uses around 40 recycled PET bottles.
Continental says it will first use this material in its AllSeasonContact tire, PremiumContact 6, and EcoContact 6 summer tires, in five sizes for each (you can find them here). All the tires made with the ContiRe.Tex technology will be produced in Continental’s plant in Lousado, Portugal, and will have a “Contains Recycled Material” logo on the sidewall.
In addition to being environmentally friendly, these tires also bring other benefits. As explained by Continental, “the textile cords in the polyester yarn from PET bottles absorb the forces of the tire’s internal pressure and remain dimensionally stable even under high loads and temperatures”.
The polyester yarn made from recycled PET bottles is just an example of the German manufacturer’s attempt to switch toward sustainable materials, a goal that it plans to achieve by 2050. Its GreenConcept tire also uses more than 35 percent renewable materials such as natural rubber from dandelions, vegetable oils, resins, as well as silicate from the ash of rice husks.
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