First Continental Plants in Germany Earn Internationally Recognized ISCC PLUS Sustainability Certification

• Mass balance certification confirms Continental’s facilities in Waltershausen and Eislingen comply with specific sustainability standards
• Anne Windberg Baarup, Head of Sustainability for ContiTech: “This certification is a testament to Continental’s commitment to offering our customers advanced material solutions with a reduced environmental footprint”

Hanover, Germany, October 30, 2024. The ContiTech group sector’s facilities in Waltershausen and Eislingen recently became the first Continental plants in Germany to receive the internationally recognized International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS. This certification confirms Continental’s compliance with and documentation of certain processes for the mass balance of raw materials. The transparent balancing principle allows renewable and recycled raw materials to be mixed into existing systems and processes. The quantity of certified materials used for the manufacture of a product is tracked along the entire value chain and can be precisely accounted for. The plants in Waltershausen and Eislingen can thus precisely trace the share of certified renewable and recycled raw materials in its products without changing its existing production processes. This enables more efficient use of resources and promotes the integration of alternative materials.

The certified material compounds produced at Continental's compounding location in Walterhausen include selected rubbers such as butadiene rubber and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber, which are used in tires, seals, and other flexible products. The certified compounds are indistinguishable from their fossil-based counterparts in terms of their properties and quality, and they meet the same regulatory requirements.

Thanks to the successful certification at the Eislingen site, Continental can also prove the proportion of certified raw materials in polyolefin-based surface materials. These include Continental's Xpreshn products, which are used in automotive interiors, for example in the doors, on the instrument panel and on the center console. The raw materials used include tall oil, which is a by-product of paper production, and food waste oil, such as old frying fat. Plastic recyclates (secondary material) and polymers based on pyrolysis oil from plastic waste are also used.

Continental is working hard to replace as many raw materials as possible in production with more alternative materials. The recent ISCC PLUS certification demonstrates the company’s ongoing efforts to implement its comprehensive sustainability strategy. To fully close its product and resource cycles and achieve a circular economy, Continental aims to base all products on renewable and recycled materials by 2050 at the latest.