Continental aims at agri-waste to achieve sustainability goal. Details here

Continental is aiming to use agricultural waste along with rubber and plastic in its tyres in an attempt to achieve sustainability goals. The tyre manufacturer has said it aims to make sustainable tyres using 100 per cent recycled materials by 2050. The company said that the natural rubber sourced from specific trees in the form of latex will continue to be a key ingredient for tyres but will be supplemented by other plant-based resources like dandelions, plant-based oils, rice husks etc. Continental also claims that rice husks are a more energy-efficient solution for manufacturing sustainable tyres. Besides that, it will continue to grind old tyres to recycle the rubber and use that for new tyre manufacturing.

The tyre manufacturing company also claimed that as for plastic bottles, Continental could use them to create a polyester yarn for the tyre casing. Depending on the size of the bottle, between 9 and 15 bottles could be recycled to make materials for one tyre, claims the company. As with the rice husks, the company claims that using the bottles is a more energy-efficient alternative for capturing polyester required for tyre manufacturing. Continental is already using this process for making some tyre casings. Apart from that, there is the process of recycling old tyres to separate rubber, steel, and cords from that, which Continental claims is a highly sophisticated process.

The result of all these efforts would ensure that future Continental tyres are built from 100 per cent sustainably sourced or recycled materials. The current generation of tyres is claimed to come with up to 20 per cent sustainable materials. Speaking about the strategy, Continental's Head of Sustainability, Claus Petschick, said that the company is on the road toward becoming the most progressive manufacturer in the tire industry in terms of sustainability. "We aim to use 100 per cent sustainable materials in our tire products by 2050 at the latest. Our innovative power enables us to break new and even more sustainable ground. This encompasses everything from the origin and sourcing of our materials through to the reuse and recycling of our tires," he said.