Continental more circular with rCB from race tires

HANOVER, Germany—Continental A.G. wants you to expect more from its tires. More sustainability, more versatility … more circularity.

And thanks to the company's pyrolysis technology—developed in partnership with Pyrum Innovations—Continental is doing all of that, turning race tires into forklift tires in the process.

Since September, Continental's Korbach, Germany, plant has been manufacturing solid tires—mainly for forklift applications—with recycled carbon black extracted from race tires, those designed for electric vehicles.

"By recycling our Extreme E racing tires, we are raising awareness of the significant potential of tire pyrolysis," Matthias Haufe, head of material development and industrialization at Continental Tires. "We are in no doubt that cutting-edge and highly efficient pyrolysis processes will make an important contribution to increasing sustainability in the tire industry."

To date Continental has processed more than 300 of its Extreme E racing tires for use in the industrial tires. And those tires, Continental said, are more sustainable to start.

As the exclusive tire partner for the all-electric Extreme E race series, Continental has pushed further with sustainable materials usage, incorporating high proportions of sustainable materials into the racing tires—about 43 percent recycled and renewable materials, to be more precise. To achieve this, Continental used materials such as rice husk ash silica and recycled plastic bottles.

Recycling those tires takes sustainability even further.

"As well as using sustainable materials, it was also important to us to recycle our racing tires. As part of a closed-loop system, these will now become the starting material for new tires," Nels von Schnakenburg, technical manager for Extreme E at Continental, said in a statement.

And this isn't the first time those racing tires have found a second, more sustainable life.

In 2021, Continental recycled its Extreme E tires to create rubber paving stones for a basketball court for local children in Hanover.