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At this year's IAA MOBILITY, Continental is presenting its innovative Conti GreenConcept tire concept for the first time. In this concept study, the premium tire manufacturer combines current and future technologies for the construction of sustainable car tires and thus provides a further insight into its diverse sustainability activities. The integrated sustainable concept aims at the lowest possible consumption of resources along the entire value chain of the tire. It starts with the origin and procurement of the materials, continues through production and extends to a concept for extending the useful life. The development engineers and material experts at Continental have consistently implemented the sustainable tire concept Conti GreenConcept on three levels: a particularly high proportion of traceable, renewable and recycled materials, an innovative, resource-saving lightweight construction technology and an extension of the service life through a renewable tread.
Conti GreenConcept tire concept
"With the Conti GreenConcept, we are underlining our goal of being the most progressive tire company in terms of ecological and social responsibility by 2030 - along the entire value chain," says David O'Donnell, who is responsible for the global tire original equipment business at Continental. “From our point of view today, sustainable materials, lightweight construction and the renewal of treads are central elements for making tires even more sustainable in the future. With our concept study, we are giving an outlook on how Continental will completely convert its global tire production to the use of sustainable materials, ”says O'Donnell.
The proportion of sustainable materials is over 50 percent
More than half of the Conti GreenConcept consists of renewable or recycled materials. Continental's goal is to switch completely to sustainably produced materials in its tire products by 2050 at the latest. The premium tire manufacturer defines sustainable as all materials that come from a closed material cycle, have no harmful effects on people or the environment, are responsibly sourced and are climate-neutral along the supply chain.
- Mostly traceable, renewable and recycled materials are used
- Innovative lightweight construction and the possibility of renewing the profile strip contribute to resource conservation and energy efficiency
- Designed for use in future sensor-based, smart vehicle concepts with environmentally friendly drive technologies
- Concept study underscores Continental's ambition to switch completely to sustainably produced materials in their tire products
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 hulls, and vegetable oils and resins, which significantly reduce the proportion of crude oil-based materials. In addition to natural rubber, certain materials, such as recycled rubber or vegetable oils, are already being used to a large extent in Continental’s global tire production. The use of sustainable raw materials in tire construction and the commitment to their production and processing has long been a high priority at Continental. Together with its partners at the Anklam site (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Continental is doing intensive research to industrialize the use of Russian dandelions. The aim is to be able to grow natural rubber in close proximity to the company's own tire plants in order to reduce CO2 emissions caused by long transport routes and to conserve valuable resources.
Use of ContiRe.Tex technology: polyester from recycled PET bottles
In addition, the Conti GreenConcept uses 17 percent recycled materials. In addition to recycled steel and carbon black, Continental is now installing polyester from recycled plastic bottles in the carcass of a tire for the first time. Continental plans to enable the step-by-step introduction of ContiRe.Tex technology from 2022 and thus use polyester yarn from recycled PET bottles in tire production. For this purpose, the PET bottles are reprocessed in a mechanical process without the previously necessary chemical intermediate steps, which makes the polyester yarn functional for the high mechanical requirements of the tire. As part of what is known as upcycling, a PET plastic bottle is turned into a high-performance PET material. A conventional car tire nowadays contains approx. 400 grams of polyester thread. Converted to a set of vehicle tires, more than 60 bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET for short, can be reused in the future. With the use of recycled polyester, the tire manufacturer is taking another important step on the way to a cross-product, resource-optimized circular economy in tire production.
Another sustainability component in the material mix of the Conti GreenConcept is COKOON. This special adhesive technology, which Continental developed together with its partner Kordsa, enables the environmentally friendly connection of textile reinforcements with rubber compounds. As part of an open source approach, both partners have been making this technology available to all players in the tire industry free of charge since 2019.
Intelligent vehicle concept relies on lightweight construction and thus conserves the use of resources
In addition to a high proportion of renewable and recycled materials, the Conti GreenConcept also sets new standards with its innovative lightweight construction technology. The tire weighs only 7,5 kilograms and is up to 40 percent lighter than today's standard tire. This weight reduction was made possible by an optimized profile of the tread, a special sidewall and a new type of carcass structure including a weight-optimized core. All in all, these design features ensure a significantly lower use of materials and greater sustainability in driving operations.
With its lightweight construction, the Conti GreenConcept is particularly aimed at use in future sensor-based smart vehicle concepts with resource-saving drive technologies. The environment sensors of future vehicle concepts control and monitor an anticipatory driving style, especially in city traffic, and enable environmentally friendly lightweight tire construction to be increasingly implemented in the future.
Optimized use of materials enables even lower rolling resistance
The specially designed profile of the Conti GreenConcept offers greater safety reserves compared to conventional tires with the same profile depth. The use of materials has also been optimized in the tread, reducing its weight. As a result, the rolling resistance of the tire could be reduced at the same time. According to internal measurements, this is around 25 percent below that of a tire in rolling resistance class A in the EU tire label, the best value in this area. Low rolling resistance has a measurable positive effect on the environment, as it helps to reduce the vehicle's energy consumption. In the case of combustion vehicles, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions can be reduced, and in the case of electric vehicles, the range can be extended. Calculations by Continental, which have been confirmed by leading vehicle manufacturers, come to the conclusion that a reduction in rolling resistance of 25 percent in electric vehicles can lead to a range extension of up to six percent.
Special tread is renewable several times
The natural rubber used in the tread compound of the Conti GreenConcept consists of 100 percent Taraxagum natural rubber. The tire concept provides that the tread can be renewed several times and with little expenditure of time and material. The green colored tread base marks the transition from the tread to the carcass. If this is undamaged, it can be reused several times. In this way, the valuable raw materials that are built into it can be reused. Renewing the tread three times, for example, ensures that the material used for the carcass is halved in relation to its total mileage. "With this concept, the Conti GreenConcept offers maximum flexibility and, at the same time, the highest level of sustainability, which literally brings the basic idea of modern mobility onto the road," says O'Donnell.
In addition, a latest-generation Continental sensor permanently monitors temperature, pressure and tread depth inside the tire. This predictive tire monitoring gives the driver even more options for a resource-saving driving style.
Continental also equips the ID. LIFE from Volkswagen with sustainable tires
In addition to the Conti GreenConcept tire concept, which Continental is presenting at its own stand at this year's IAA MOBILITY, the company is equipping the ID concept car, which is also being presented at the fair. LIFE from Volkswagen with a concept tire. It contains environmentally friendly tire building technologies that can be used in series production at short notice.
Based on the Continental EcoContact 6 series tire, this concept tire scores with very low rolling resistance (EU label A) and thus increases the range of the ID. LIFE. Through the targeted use of renewable and recycled materials with a share of 37 percent, it also saves valuable resources along the entire value chain. The responsible procurement of raw materials helps to minimize ecological and human rights-related risks.
The side wall of the EcoContact 6 is labeled “Responsibly Sourced Rubber” and underlines the diverse activities of Continental with regard to the transparent and traceable procurement of natural rubber.
Other renewable raw materials used include silicate from the ashes of rice hulls, vegetable oil and vegetable resins. It also contains recycled rubber and the environmentally friendly adhesive system for textile reinforcements, COKOON, which was recently introduced into series production.
With the Conti GreenConcept and the concept tire for the ID concept car. LIFE from Volkswagen underscores Continental's ambitious goal of being the most progressive tire company in terms of ecological and social responsibility by 2030. In a first step, the company will make zero-emission mobility businesses around the world completely CO2022-neutral as early as 2. This is an important step on the way to achieving complete climate neutrality and also supports Continental's customers in achieving their decarbonization goals. By 2050 at the latest, Continental intends to use 100 percent sustainably produced materials in its tire products and achieve complete climate neutrality along its entire value chain.
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