Conti stays agile on road to sustainability

HANOVER, Germany—Continental A.G. will look to the more agile startup sector for its continuing journey toward sustainability, with the ambitious goal of becoming emissions-free by 2050.

With a focus on the use of recycled rubber and plastics and circular economies for industrial and automotive parts, Continental will partner with the non-profit Innovation Network for Advanced Materials, a Berlin-based collaboration that serves as a conduit for the academic, research and corporate worlds.

Established as a global network in 2016 by the Humboldt University Berlin, INAM helps bridge the gap between research and industry in material sciences.

"The start-up scene worldwide is creative, innovative and agile, and exciting ideas from basic research are often emerging at universities," said Daniel Biensfeld, head of innovation field sustainable materials for Continental.

"But what they often lack is the process know-how and technical equipment to translate their good ideas into a production environment and develop them into a marketable product."

The partnership is part of the "Continental Challenge," a series of efforts as Conti addresses a future of electric vehicles, renewable fuel technology and recycling methods for both industrial and automotive parts.

"We are extremely excited to run this second innovation challenge with Continental to support them in their effort to make their products future-ready," said Oliver Hasse, managing director at INAM. "Advanced and innovative materials can provide breakthrough solutions to the sustainability challenges of our times—but (they) are currently often considered only secondary to digital innovations."

Launched in mid-October, the endeavor will look to uncover energy-efficient recycling processes for breaking down polymer composites back into their individual components, such as monomers.

"The global challenge of sustainability can be faced only by comprehensive partnerships," Biensfeld said. "For example, (by) finding innovative ideas by thinking beyond current core competencies and business as well as value models or material streams.

"Discovering the power of disruptive ideas and filling blind spots of research and development activities is the core of these activities."

Conti said it has expanded its research and development efforts into recycled rubber and plastics since 2020, with specific work in plastics extrusion for industrial applications. And there are no boundaries on the applications or restrictions on the technology that might be available to make such breakthroughs happen, Biensfeld said.

"We will look to cover the entire variety of our product landscape, industrial and automotive, in a balanced portfolio within our ContiTech business area," he said, adding that sustainability applications range from hoses in automotive to industrial applications with belts and surface materials.

"We are considering different rubber and thermoplastic recycling solutions with no restrictions on technology availability," he said. "Circularity involves material or product design, recycling and alternative feedstocks. Closed loop recycling is one option. Value streams of recycled products into other branches can also be part of a joint sustainability approach, which allows for the (second) life of products or parts of the products such as upcycling or downcycling."

The first "challenge" this spring in the Conti-INAM partnership looked for solutions in fluid management in vehicles, including cooling and air-conditioning lines in electric cars. Continental experts are now continuing to work with the four selected finalists on concepts for emission-free mobility.

But the relationship between Conti and INAM goes back to 2019.

"The first partnership with INAM was established in 2019 to drive business and research and development activities globally together," Biensfeld said. "The purpose is a collaboration between Continental and startups in the field of advanced materials as well as innovative processes and technologies."

When Continental A.G. was born 150 years ago, phrases like "circular economy" and "renewable fuel technology" were unheard of, and there was little thought to the finality of raw materials that are mined.

Now companies large and small are addressing sustainability—whether the engine powering the change is customer-, market- or conscience-driven, or some combination thereof.

"Continental has already made significant progress toward its ambitious goal of becoming the most progressive tire company with regard to ecological and social responsibility by the year 2030," Henry Schniewind, head of external communications for Conti's tire segment, told Rubber News earlier this year. "As an initial step in this direction, our company's zero-emission mobility business is on track to becoming completely carbon-neutral as of 2022.

"This is an important milestone on the road to becoming fully carbon-neutral, and will also help Continental's customers to meet their own decarbonization targets."

Throughout the 21 business units within Continental A.G., company-wide goals include becoming 100-percent carbon-neutral by 2050; 100-percent emissions-free across the industry from nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxides by 2050; achieving a 100-percent circular economy by 2050; and achieving a 100-percent responsible value chain, as far as sourcing raw materials, by 2050.

As a producer of 125 million metric tons of carbon annually throughout its supply chain, the goals are lofty—and entirely possible, Conti said.

"By collaborating with young start-ups and university institutes, we hope to give a boost to the world of materials, both for the production and recycling of our products," said Ran Escher, responsible for partnership management at Conti. "We are very excited to see what solutions the participating teams come up with in the coming weeks."

The tire segment and the ContiTech division (Continental A.G.'s industrial business unit) already have seen sustainability successes, with a focus on hydrogen fuel cells, green tire technologies, climate-friendly thermal management systems that increase the range of electric and hybrid vehicles, and the refurbishment of air spring systems.

Continental also provides retreading solutions for truck tires to protect scarce resources, like natural rubber.

"For our tire colleagues, natural rubber is a precious resource," Biensfeld said. "Unique recycling technologies enable the return of rubber from worn tires to the production process for new tires and retreads. We want to eliminate waste. That is why we are continuously expanding our circular economy solutions to maximize the reusability of our tires and of all materials used for their production."

Biensfeld said the notion of "co-creation" is a core concept at Continental, one that INAM embraces as well.

"We always strive to find partners who provide insights on emerging technologies, industries and trends," he said. "Therefore, sustainable material solutions are part of Continental's comprehensive sustainability road map. In other words, effective circular solutions for polymeric materials substantially contribute to Continental's sustainability road map and are key objectives within these new challenges.

"We are excited to find new partners to accompany us on this great journey."