Continental constructing tires produced from rubber, rice husks, and plastic bottles

Continental is having a look at trash lots and recycling packing containers to search out sustainable fabrics for long term tires.

The corporate hopes to make all of its tires solely from sustainable fabrics through 2050 at the most recent, up from 15% to twenty% renewable or recycled content material nowadays. In a press unlock, Continental defined how it is having a look at agricultural waste like rice husks and dandelions, in addition to recycled plastic bottles, to lend a hand reach that objective.

A passenger automotive tire may also be composed of as much as 100 other fabrics, consistent with Continental, and probably the most essential is herbal rubber, which the corporate stated accounts for 10% to 40% of the burden of a contemporary tire.

Sustainable fabrics in Continental tires

Tire producers are on the lookout for choice resources of herbal rubber that may be extra sustainably grown on an business scale, as Bridgestone has achieved through the use of a desolate tract shrub referred to as guayule in some racing tires. Continental targets to make use of specifically cultivated dandelions as a supply of herbal rubber.

Continental could also be constructing silica tire fillers produced from the ash of rice husks, waste subject material that cannot be used for meals or animal feed, the corporate famous. The method of turning them into silica could also be extra power environment friendly than standard manufacturing processes, Continental claims.

Different tire fillers are lately produced from crude oil, however Continental believes plant-based rapeseed oils and resins produced from the leftovers of paper and picket processing may function substitutes. As with rice husks, those are waste fabrics that don’t have any different sensible use, the corporate stated.

Pyrolysis procedure used to extract recyclable subject material from Continental tires

Carbon black is any other main aspect, and on this case Continental needs to recycle previous tires to recuperate the fabric. It not too long ago signed an settlement with Pyrum Inventions to make use of the latter’s pyrolysis procedure, which comes to the use of top warmth to wreck down previous tires to extract usable subject material. Continental could also be the use of “mechanical processing” to split out different fabrics, together with rubber, metal, and textile, from previous tires.

Some other recycled subject material Continental needs to use is PET plastic from drink bottles, which may also be made into polyester yarn for tire casings. Between 9 and 15 bottles can cross into each and every tire, relying on tire dimension, consistent with Continental.

Different tire producers also are having a look to make their merchandise extra environmentally pleasant. Goodyear in January confirmed a prototype tire containing 90% sustainable fabrics, and plans to begin making tires with 70% sustainable fabrics this yr. Michelin and Hyundai have additionally partnered on sustainable fabrics for long term EV tires.