Continental will enable the use of reprocessed polyester obtained from recycled plastic bottles, in its tyre production as of 2022. The new sustainable polyester yarn will be obtained from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles through a mechanical process and will be used in the construction of the tyre carcass.
Recycled PET Bottles for Continental Tyres in 2022
The new sustainable polyester yarn will be obtained from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles through a mechanical process and will be used in the construction of the tyre carcass. This can completely replace conventional polyester. Together with its co-operation partner and supplier OTIZ, a fibre specialist and textile manufacturer, the premium tyre manufacturer has developed a special technology to recycle PET bottles, without the previously necessary intermediate chemical steps, and to make the polyester yarn functional for the high mechanical requirements of the tyre. In the course of so-called upcycling, a PET bottle becomes a high-performance PET material.
“As early as 2022, we will be able to use material obtained from recycled PET bottles in tyre production. In our innovative recycling process, the fibres are spun from recycled PET without having to break the material down into its components beforehand,” says Dr. Andreas Topp, responsible for materials, process development and industrialisation in Continental’s Tyres business area. He adds; “Already at this year’s IAA MOBILITY in Munich, we will present a highly innovative concept tyre with polyester yarn made from recycled PET bottles. With the use of recycled polyester yarn, we are taking another important step in the direction of cross-product circular economy.”
As part of the recycling process, the bottles are first sorted, caps removed and finally mechanically cleaned. After mechanical shredding, they are melted down and granulated; this is followed by solid state polymerisation and a modified spinning process. “Our modified manufacturing process enables us to obtain polyester yarn for tyre construction from PET bottles without any polymerisation process from monomers,” explains Dr. Derren Huang, Chief of Research and Development at OTIZ.
Laboratory and tyre tests conducted by Continental have shown that secondary raw material fibres perform equally as well as the fibres used up to now. They have the same quality as virgin PET, are just as stable, and are particularly suitable for tyres due to their breaking strength, toughness and thermal stability.
The use of recycled PET conserves valuable resources in tyre construction: today, a conventional passenger car tyre consists of around 400 grams of polyester yarn. This means that more than 60 recycled PET bottles can be used for a complete set of vehicle tyres in the future.
Recycling is becoming increasingly important in the design, development and production of premium tyres. By 2050 at the latest, Continental aims to successively use 100 per cent sustainably produced materials in its tyre products. With the use of recycled PET, the tyre manufacturer has succeeded in taking a further step toward a circular economy.
“For us, waste is tomorrow’s production material as we see the model of the future in circular economy. Continental’s commitment to actively shaping and driving this transformation offers us a head start for our future business and thus for our future viability,” says Claus Petschick, Head of Sustainability at the Tyres business area of Continental. “Our ambition is clear: By 2050 at the latest, we want to completely close our product and resource cycles with our partners and suppliers.”
Source: Continental Press Office
Readers may wish to check out our article on Sustainability and the Tyre Industry in the latest edition of Tyre and Rubber Recycling