PUCHOV, Slovakia—Continental's production facility in Puchov has become the company's first truck tire plant to earn ISCC Plus certification.
ISCC Plus certifies non-conventional raw materials that can be used, including foodstuffs, animal feed, chemicals, plastics, packaging and textiles. It ensures ecosystems protection and compliance with labor and human rights standards, while promoting sustainable economic development.
The internationally recognized, voluntary certification assures transparency and traceability of raw materials using mass balanced procedures. This allows Continental to gradually increase the proportion of sustainable materials in its tires with reporting accuracy because they are tracked along the entire value chain.
"Certifying our production processes underpins our extensive efforts in the area of sustainability. With ISCC Plus, we are able to tackle the transition to a circular economy and a sustainable bio-economy," Jorge Almeida, head of sustainability at Continental Tires, said in a statement "Our aim is to gradually roll out the mass balance approach to all our tire plants worldwide. Puchov is our first truck tire plant to be certified for this purpose."
Continental aims to use 100 percent sustainable materials across its product portfolio by 2050, and has made strides toward that aim. Among the more sustainable materials used in its tires are rice husk ash silica, dandelion rubber, recycled rubber and post-consumer PET.
Already, Continental has rolled out a 65-percent sustainable materials tire. The UltraContact NXT, available in Europe, uses a large portion of renewable and recycled materials.
Opened in 1950, the Puchov plant employs more than 5,000 and produces tires for passenger cars, light trucks and trucks. The facility also is home to a technology center, global tire R&D and consolidated unit of ContiTech.
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