Continental: Concept tire contains 43 percent recycled material

Continental ZEvRA Tire - (Foto: Continental)

As part of the EU-funded “ZEvRA” project, Continental has developed a concept tire consisting of around 43 percent physically recycled materials. These include recycled tall oil, steel, rubber from end-of-life tires, and polyester fibers made from recycled PET bottles. A further 13 percent comes from renewable raw materials and 25 percent from mass-balance-certified materials. In total, more than 80 percent of the materials used therefore come from recycled, renewable, or mass-balance-certified sources.

Continental uses various recycling processes in production. Pyrolysis, for example, is used to recover Recovered Carbon Black (rCB) from end-of-life tires. Since 2023, the material has already been used in all newly manufactured solid tires at the company’s Korbach plant. In addition, foundry waste sand serves as a raw material for an alternative form of silica. Despite its high recycled content, the concept tire achieves the highest rating for rolling resistance under the EU tire label, according to the company.

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The two-year EU project “ZEvRA” (“Zero Emission Electric Vehicles Enabled by Harmonized Circularity”) runs until 2026 and is investigating closed material loops for electric vehicles across the entire value chain. Continental is the only tire manufacturer among the 28 project partners. The findings are intended to feed into the further development of materials and manufacturing processes. The focus is on the industrial availability and processing of suitable recycled raw materials as well as the scaling of production processes.

At the same time, Continental points to regulatory requirements for broader industrial use. These include harmonized definitions of recycled materials across Europe, criteria for classifying processed materials as recycled raw materials, and standardized procedures for allocating material flows.

In 2025, renewable and recycled production materials accounted for 28 percent of the materials purchased for Continental’s tire portfolio. The company aims to increase this share to at least 40 percent by 2030.

More information: www.continental.com

Continental AG, Hannover

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