Driving Into the Future on Green Continental Tires
Further step toward sustainability
At the IAA MOBILITY 2021, Continental has presented a world first in the form of a particularly sustainable tire concept: the Conti GreenConcept. Its integrated sustainability profile sets new standards. Continental’s development engineers and material experts have worked on three levels to achieve this: at more than 50 percent, the tire contains a particularly high proportion of traceable, renewable and recycled materials. The tire concept is based on innovative, resource-saving lightweight technology and ensures an extended service life thanks to a renewable tread.
The proportion of renewable raw materials used in the Conti GreenConcept is 35 percent. The organic materials used include natural rubber from dandelions, silicate from the ashes of rice husks, and various vegetable oils and resins, which significantly reduce the amount of crude oil-based materials. In addition, the Conti GreenConcept is made from 17 percent recycled materials. As well as processed steel and carbon black, Continental is using polyester from recycled PET bottles in the casing of a tire for the first time.
Thanks to a special lightweight design, the developers have significantly reduced the weight and rolling resistance of the concept tire. All the individual improvements together result in significantly lower rolling resistance for the Conti GreenConcept. Based on internal analysis, this is around 25 percent lower than that of a tire with class A rolling resistance according to the EU tire label, the best in this area. The Conti GreenConcept therefore has a measurable positive effect on the environment. Lower rolling resistance means the vehicle consumes less energy, which in the case of electric vehicles extends their range by up to 6 percent.
Another advantage of the tire is its renewable tread. The Conti GreenConcept can be replaced multiple times with little effort in terms of time and materials. This vastly improves resource conservation, because renewing the tread three times would ensure that the material used for the casing is halved in relation to its total mileage. Further information on the Conti GreenConcept concept tire is available in a separate press release.
Driving into the future on green Continental tires
“The cars of the future will still need tires, which we are making more and more sustainable, as our concept tire shows. The Conti GreenConcept demonstrates how Continental will completely convert its global tire production to the use of sustainable materials by 2050 at the latest. This underlines our goal of being the most advanced tire company along the entire value chain by 2030 in terms of social needs as well as our ecological and economic footprint,” said Setzer, adding: “Step by step, our solutions and technologies are enhancing sustainability and climate protection on the road.”
Sustainable and responsible business practices have been an integral part of Continental’s corporate strategy for many years and are leading to tangible results, as evidenced by a number of other innovations for sustainable and intelligent electric vehicles. “From as early as 2022,” confirmed Setzer, “we will make our global business for emission-free vehicles completely carbon-neutral. By 2040, we are aiming for zero carbon emissions at all of our plants worldwide. Finally, by 2050 at the latest, we plan to be carbon-neutral along the entire value chain.”
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