Continental Increases the Amount of Recycled Materials in Tyres

• The company also explores options like bio-based and chemically recycled PET to operate sustainably.
• This initiative is part of Continental's broader strategy to make tyre production 100% sustainable by 2050.

Continental, a German multinational automotive parts manufacturer, is using polyester fabric made from recycled PET bottles in its tyre production.

With this move, the tyre manufacturer aims to reduce the use of new materials and increase the proportion of recycled materials in its tyres. This transition will help the company raise the amount of sustainable materials in each tyre by 3%. Based on the size, each tyre can contain up to 15 PET bottles.

ContiRe.Tex Technology was introduced in 2021, and with its help, plastic bottles are converted into polyester yarn without using any chemicals in the process. This makes it a sustainable method of producing the fabric needed for tyres. The polyester yarn made from recycled PET is stronger and more durable than conventional polyester.

They first introduced this technology in Portugal and the Czech Republic plants in 2022, and now they are using recycled PET in production in Germany and France, too. The company aims to slowly increase the amount of renewable and recycled materials and attain a complete switch to sustainable polyester by 2030.

"Reduce, reuse, recycle – this trio is key to more sustainable tyres. Wherever possible, we use recycled materials while maintaining our highest quality standards," says Jorge Almeida, Head of Sustainability at Continental Tires. "Our polyester yarn made from recycled PET bottles is just as strong as conventional polyester yarn. This shows that sustainability, performance, and safety go hand in hand at Continental."

By 2050, Continental aims to use 100% sustainable materials in tyre production. This will also include materials such as rubber from dandelions, agricultural waste (like rice husk ash), and recycled rubber.

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Source: Continental