Sustainable tires get attention in trucking sector

The commercial trucking industry is on the road to a more autonomous future, and it'll need the right tires to get there—which is why tire makers are dedicating their time and energy to provide just that.

But as tire makers invest in making an autonomous commercial trucking industry possible, sustainability remains a driving factor in the initiative. Measures taken for sustainable passenger tires are just as relevant in the commercial trucking industry.

This shows up in the materials that make up the tires, their durability and retreading.

For Bridgestone Americas Inc., the Nashville-based company is sourcing materials that "are more environmentally friendly," said Dan Levy, executive director of product and mobility solutions at Bridgestone, "as it's very important to us and it's very important to our customers to drive good sustainability outcomes."

Bridgestone also is working to improve on the retreadability of its tires, and the technology invested in its tires will help with this.

"The more durable that casing and the more insights that we can generate about how that casing has been used and handled over time, the more opportunity there is to drive more retread," Levy said. "This has great economic outcomes for the fleet, and this is also a big driver of sustainability outcomes, as you don't need to purchase new the bulk of the tire—the casing—after each use."

At Michelin, improving rolling resistance is key to sustainability in the commercial industry.

"Michelin focuses on all parts of the tire in its design," said Thomas Stacey, urban and regional B2B product manager at Michelin. "Technologies in our casing that contribute to lowering rolling resistance while also helping to improve the tire footprint for long, even wear are found in many of our tires, such as our X One products."

Stacey said Michelin also incorporates fuel efficient sidewalls to improve rolling resistance, which is seen in the company's X Line Energy Z tire.

"Advancements in compounding can deliver improvements in rolling resistance while also providing good wear," he added. "The tread design also plays a key factor in rolling resistance, traction and wear."

By lowering a tire's rolling resistance, Stacey said, Michelin can help reduce commercial truck/van fuel consumption, which "helps the environment by lowering truck and van emissions."

Stacey also noted the major environmental impact of scrap tires from commercial trucks and vans.

"Tire design advancements can increase the retreadability of the tire so that fleets get more use out of the original casing and lower the number of scrap tires that end up in landfills," integrating the tires into a more circular economy, he said.

"As sustainability and environmental impacts move to the forefront in the tire industry, tire designs will evolve to using more sustainable materials than they do today," Stacey said. "The Michelin Vision concept, for example, is manufactured from bio-sourced and recycled materials, leveraging the high-tech materials expertise of Michelin and its partners to achieve the objective of 100-percent sustainable materials by 2050."

At Prometeon Tyre Group, Marco Verzino, vice president of technical, product management and OE, also said rolling resistance is key in the commercial trucking industry when it comes to sustainability.

"Any vehicle manufacturer has to provide a certain classification for fuel emissions to the government," Verzino said, helping the industry achieve targets for lower emissions. "Having lower fuel emissions and longer tread life, low rolling resistance achieved with materials that are more sustainable, that's the name of the game."

Rob Williams, vice president of U.S. TBR sales at Hankook Tire America Corp., said Hankook Tire & Technology Co. Ltd. takes environmental issues seriously.

"In response to the environmental crisis, Hankook Tire has been preparing for the global transition to electric vehicles for a while now," he said. "The company has started to work on EV technology ahead of its time, establishing the necessary capabilities and infrastructure for innovation and product development."

Hankook, based in Seongnam-Si, South Korea, is contributing to the elevation of the commercial trucking industry, Williams added, "by not only benefiting the environment but also improving labor costs, fuel consumption and maintenance costs."

This is seen through the company's digital transformation in the manufacturing process of its tires.

"By implementing digital twins and artificial intelligence, we are reducing waste materials that are caused by countless tests and simulation," he said, noting the company's "Virtual Compound Design System" that uses artificial intelligence to predict tire compound properties.

"This substitutes the conventional development process, which is very complicated and takes a long time, which means a reduction of resources," Williams said.

Hanover, Germany-based Continental A.G. said it's been committed to sustainability since the early 1970s.

"The effects of the oil crisis in 1973 provided the impetus for a research project to develop tires with optimized rolling resistance. The insights gained in this project ultimately led to the presentation of a previously unprecedented product in 1993," Conti said.

"For the first time, a tire in the ContiEcoContact (line) combined environmental benefits and economic aspects with outstanding driving and safety characteristics. Since then, Continental has been facing the major challenges in dealing with finite raw materials and the need to reduce CO2 emissions."

The company said it has rolled out sustainability initiatives as early as 1903 with a branch plant set up in Seelze, Germany, near Hanover, for reprocessing and recycling rubber scrap, and in 2013, Conti opened its ContiLifeCycle plant in Hanover Stoecken for retreading for truck and bus tires.

Currently, Conti said it's aiming to achieve 100-percent sustainably produced materials in its tire products by 2050.

"In order to make the tires of the future even more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly in terms of production, use and recyclability," Conti said, "the company is systematically investing in the research and development of new technologies, alternative materials and environmentally compatible production processes."