New Continental Tyre Has High Share Of Sustainable Materials
What is a variant of the UltraContact series, will be available in Europe from next month.
Take any industry; chances are that it encourages using sustainable materials in whatever form and percentage possible. One that has always been under the scanner of environmentalists is the tyre manufacturing world. And amongst the most prominent players is Continental. To up the sustainability game in its tyre production sector, it introduced a new variant of the UltraContact series unveiled last year. The new derivative is known as UltraContact NXT.
The brand claims its latest creation is the first series tyre with a “very high share” of sustainable materials. And what is that share? Depending on the size, the UltraContact NXT tyre has up to 65 per cent renewable, recycled and mass-balance certified materials. Renewable, recycled and mass-balanced certified materials account for 32 per cent, 5 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively.
Continental has even shared what makes up each of the three sustainable material categories. The 32 per cent section consists of resins based on residual materials from two industries – paper and wood. Also, silicate from the ash of rice husks is part of the equation, helping to optimise aspects like grip, rolling resistance and tyre life.
Accounting for the “up to 5 per cent” recycled stuff is recycled rubber from mechanically processed end-of-life tyres and recycled steel. Besides those, Continental has also included its ContiRe.Tex technology in the UltraContact NXT tyres. The tech generates “high-performance” polyester fibres, reinforcing the tyre by recycling PET bottles.
Making up 28 per cent of the 65 per cent claim are mass-balance certified materials – sustainable synthetic rubber and carbon black made from biobased, bio-circular and/or circular feedstock. The ISCC Plus certification ensures proper transparency and traceability in the supply chain.
The UltraContact NXT will be available in 19 sizes and will replace the existing respective derivatives of the standard UltraContact tyres. The sustainable rubber will hit the European market this July and serve EVs and conventionally-powered vehicles. Some of the examples include Tesla Model 3, Audi Q4 e-tron, VW ID.3, Skoda Octavia, VW Golf 8 and Audi A3.
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