Continental tyre uses 43% recycled materials

Continental says it has developed a concept tyre with 43% recycled materials. The tyre was created for the EU's ZEvRA project, which focuses on circular recycling and electric vehicles.

The supplier was the only tyre maker among the project's 28 partners. Continental states the concept highlights the potential of innovative material approaches. It also demonstrates the need for a reliable framework for scaling recycling technologies industrially.

Dr. Andreas Topp, head of Platform Development and Industrialization for passenger-car tyres at Continental, commented. "Circular materials can help save resources and energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions," he said. Topp added that the concept shows what is technically possible today and serves as a catalyst for future innovations.

Material composition and sourcing

The ZEvRA concept tyre's 43% recycled content includes several key materials. These are recycled tall oil, steel, rubber from end-of-life tires, and polyester fibers made from recycled PET bottles.

Continental also employs technologies like pyrolysis. This process extracts materials such as recovered carbon black (rCB) from old tyres for reuse. Since 2023, recovered carbon black has been used in all newly produced solid rubber tyres at the Korbach site. These tyres are primarily fitted on forklift trucks.

Another material, sand residue from foundries (rSand), is used to manufacture an alternative silica variant. The company says recycling keeps materials in circulation and replaces primary raw materials.

Performance and production integration

Continental maintains that incorporating a high percentage of recycled materials into a safety-critical product is a significant step. The company claims the concept tyre demonstrates compatibility between sustainability and performance. It reportedly achieves the highest rating for the EU rolling resistance label.

Tyres consist of numerous high-performance raw materials precisely balanced for safety, efficiency, and longevity. Continental points out that these complex requirements make circularity particularly challenging.

The insights from developing this concept will form the basis for further material and technology development. Continental says the focus will be on the industrial availability and processing of suitable recycling materials, as well as scaling manufacturing processes. The aim is to further increase the share of recycled materials in future tyre generations.

Broader material goals

Continental says it is continually increasing the share of recycled and renewable materials across its portfolio. Since 2022, polyester casings made from recycled PET bottles have been used in selected passenger-car tyres.

With the UltraContact NXT, launched in 2023, the company introduced a production tyre with up to 65% renewable, recycled, and mass-balance-certified materials.

The following table shows Continental's reported progress and targets for renewable and recycled materials in its tyre portfolio:

The company states the goal is to raise the share of purchased renewable and recycled production materials to at least 40% by 2030.