ContiRe.Tex: With recycled tires towards more sustainability

According to its own statements, Continental is the first tire manufacturer to immediately incorporate recycled polyester yarn into series production, which is obtained from PET plastic bottles using a new process. The new high-performance material is initially used in selected sizes of the summer tires PremiumContact 6 and EcoContact 6 as well as the all-season tire AllSeasonContact. The conventionally used polyester in the tire carcass is completely replaced. About 40 recycled PET bottles are used for a set of standard car tires. The manufacturer had first presented the specially developed so-called ContiRe.Tex technology in September 2021. With it, polyester yarn is used, which is obtained without any chemical intermediate steps from used PET bottles that are not recycled elsewhere. The technology is therefore significantly more efficient than other known methods for processing PET bottles into high-performance polyester yarns, advertise the Hanoverians.

The bottles used for the technology come exclusively from regions without a closed recycling loop, assures the manufacturer. They are sorted as part of the special process, the caps are removed, and they are cleaned mechanically. After mechanical shredding, further processing into PET granulate and finally into spun polyester yarn follows.

"Within just eight months, we have brought our innovative ContiRe.Tex technology into series production. We are continuously increasing the share of renewable and recycled materials in our tires. By 2050 at the latest, we want to use only sustainable materials in our tire production," explains Ferdinand Hoyos, who heads Continental's tire replacement business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).