Continental’s Wastemaster Provides Stadtreinigung Hamburg with Over Twelve Years of Excellent Service

Hanover, Germany, November 12, 2024. Continental and Stadtreinigung Hamburg (SRH) have enjoyed a successful partnership for more than twelve years now. Stadtreinigung Hamburg provides cleaning services for the northern German city and its almost two million inhabitants. And the company has put the task of tire management with repair and service for its 1,100 vehicles – based at seven different sites around Hamburg – entirely in the hands of Continental. Its modern fleet is fitted with a tire that has been specially geared to the requirements of waste disposal companies: the Wastemaster from Bandvulc, a Continental brand. "Our innovative, state-of-the-art fleet needs an innovative, state-of-the-art tire to match, and that is without doubt the new Wastemaster 5," says Oliver Braune for the fleet of Stadtreinigung Hamburg. The robust tire with reinforced sidewalls now comes equipped with the pioneering Armorband technology that visualizes the amount of sidewall tire wear. The city cleaning firm has also entrusted the task of tire management with repair and service to the experts, with Continental subsidiary Vergölst providing a 24/7 tire service comprising both roadside assistance and regular maintenance. "The prime objective is to ensure our fleet’s operational reliability," emphasizes Braune.

The Bandvulc Wastemaster 5 is a robust, retreaded premium tire designed for urban use. It boasts outstanding durability and extremely reliable operation all year round, even when dealing with tight turning radii, sharp curbs and adverse weather conditions. "With the Bandvulc Wastemaster and comprehensive tire service as part of our ContiLifeCycle concept, we are helping waste disposal companies to cut costs and lower their emissions – and thereby work towards company goals, such as circular economy, high recycling rates, conservation of resources and maximized sustainability," explains Jan-Ole van Lengen, Head of ContiLifeCycle Germany at Continental.

Located on the Elbe river, the City of Hamburg has 1.9 million inhabitants (Statista 2023) living in around one million households (Statista 2024), in addition to businesses, public authorities and municipal facilities. Every year, 797,684 metric tons (Mg p.a.) of residential waste and 629,575 metric tons (Mg p.a) of commercial municipal waste is produced here (Hamburg Authority for the Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture, 2023). Stadtreinigung Hamburg is responsible for collecting and disposing of a large part of these tins of waste. It’s a real challenge for workers and machinery alike. "Our 280 vehicles drive down the narrowest of streets, where tires have to work really hard," says Oliver Braune. "They must be able to get anywhere all year round, make extremely tight turns and withstand contact with curbs."

Each Wastemaster tire is fitted to Stadtreinigung Hamburg’s vehicles for an average of four years. That equates countless sharp curbs, shards of glass and miles of cobblestones to negotiate along the way. "The Wastemaster 5 is a major boon for us here," noted Braune. "It’s a top tire. With its Armorband on the side and reinforced sidewalls, it’s become an indispensable part of our day-to-day operations." The Bandvulc Wastemaster 5 is made to take the knocks: the robust sidewall technology with solid shoulders protects the tire against damage as well as curb wear. "The pioneering Armorband on the sidewall provides a visual stability check," adds Peter Neumann, Key Account Manager at Vergölst GmbH in Hamburg. "It shows when the tire needs to be changed. This is an effective way of preventing tire failure and casing damage." The Wastemaster 5 also has good stone ejection properties and bears the Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) symbol as a mark of its reliable traction, good grip and sure handling, particularly in wintry weather conditions.

Continental is playing its part in helping Stadtreinigung Hamburg to meet its corporate strategy goals with Wastemaster 5 retreaded tires and the ContiLifeCycle concept. "Retreading is very important to us because we want to operate in a resource-efficient way, and it’s something we are really committed to," remarks Oliver Braune. "By fitting retreads, we are able to reuse up to 70 percent of the material from our own casings."

Sustainability is firmly established as an integral part of Stadtreinigung Hamburg’s core business. "Our work is underpinned by not just economical, but also social and, above all, ecological principles," explains Anne-Maria Jeske from the disposal company’s press office. "As per the waste hierarchy, our top priority is to prevent waste in the first place and preserve raw materials. We are therefore focusing on sustainability in many contexts. Our major goal is to achieve climate neutrality by 2035. Our vehicle fleet is a key lever for achieving this, which is why we are continuously switching to alternative drive systems. By 2025, every newly purchased vehicle at SRH will have an alternative, low-energy drive." The key messages of the company’s strategy – such as circular economy, sustainable procurement, climate action and conservation of resources – match the objectives of Continental’s Vision 2050. Solutions like ContiLifeCycle and the Wastemaster specialty tire help to achieve these goals.

Both parties benefit from this long-standing, trust-filled partnership. Stadtreinigung Hamburg is able to rely on the solutions from Continental for its entire tire management and focus on its core business. The tire developers at Continental, meanwhile, can use the Hamburg company’s practical experience with the Wastemaster to continue adapting this bespoke tire to the challenging conditions faced by waste disposal firms in their daily work. "Our fleet of modern vehicles need to do the best possible job for our employees," concludes Oliver Braune. “State-of-the-art tires play a prominent role here, as do cutting-edge tire management and dependable partners such as service provider Vergölst and Continental, as manufacturer for the Wastemaster 5.”