Plastic bottles have managed to have a second life, since the first tires made with polyester threads made precisely with the material with which water containers are made, arrive on the market.
Continental becomes the first tire manufacturer to start the production of recycled polyester thread obtained in a new process from polyethylene terephthalate (known as PET) plastic bottles. This new high-performance material will first be used in selected dimensions for Continental’s PremiumContact 6 and EcoContact 6 summer tires and the AllSeasonContact all-season tire, completely replacing conventional polyester in the carcass. Specifically, a set of standard tires for tourism uses the material from about 40 recycled PET bottles.
In September 2021, Continental presented its own ContiRe.Tex technology for the first time, which uses polyester yarn obtained from used PET bottles without any intermediate chemical steps and which cannot be recycled in any other way. This makes the technology much more efficient than other standard methods for transforming PET bottles into high-performance polyester yarns. Within a special recycling process, the bottles are sorted and mechanically cleaned, after removing the caps. After mechanical grinding, the PET is transformed into granules and, finally, into polyester yarn.
The first tires with recycled PET bottles are now available
All tires with ContiRe.Tex technology being produced in the next phase of market launch come from Continental’s tire plant in Lousado, Portugal. These tires have a special identification logo on the sidewall that reads “Contains recycled material”.
Polyester yarn made from PET has long been used as a mounting material for passenger car and light truck tires. Textile cords absorb internal tire pressure forces and remain dimensionally stable even under high loads and temperatures. To make tires even more energy efficient and environmentally friendly in their manufacture, use and recyclability, Continental continuously researches alternative materials for tire production.
In September 2021 during the IAA MOBILITY fair, Continental presented the Conti GreenConcept tire, which uses polyester from recycled plastic bottles in the carcass. For the second season of the all-electric Extreme E racing series, which opened in February 2022, Continental has developed a tire that also uses ContiRe.Tex. In addition, the support vehicles for this year’s Tour de France will also be exclusively equipped with ContiRe.Tex tyres.
Continental initially offers PremiumContact 6, EcoContact 6 and AllSeasonContact tires with ContiRe.Tex technology in five dimensions of each model.
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