Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a clear, strong, lightweight plastic that is 100% recyclable. It also could be a featured component in your next set of tires.

Continental, the automotive supplier and tire manufacturer, set out in 2021 to incorporate more renewable and recyclable materials in its tires such as silica from agricultural waste and polyester from recycled PET. Since then, the German company with tire production facilities in South Carolina has incorporated many of these technologies into its series production tires including the UltraContact NXT, which the company claims is the most sustainable series tire available.

“Sustainable innovations belong on the road and not in a showroom,” said Jorge Almeida, Head of Sustainability at Continental Tires. We ensure that innovations and concept tires are made available to our customers and go into production as quickly as possible, without any compromises in terms of safety and performance. We were the first to integrate pioneering technologies such as recycled PET into series tires, and we were also the first tire manufacturer to launch a model with a particularly high share of renewable and recycled materials. We walk our talk when it comes to making our world more sustainable.”

PET bottles often end up in waste incineration plants or landfills. By using Continental’s ContiRe.Tex technology, the company and its partners say they have succeeded in producing high-quality polyester yarn for tires from recycled PET bottles. Depending on the tire size, between nine and fifteen PET bottles can be reused per tire, and the bottles used come exclusively from regions without a closed recycling loop.

Continental brought the Conti-Re.Tex technology to production readiness in less than a year, which it says is remarkable because, in addition to the conversion of corresponding production processes in the tire plants, the use of new raw materials is always a complex balancing act for engineers and material experts.

Series tires with Conti-Re.Tex technology have been available from specialist tire dealers in Europe since April 2022.

The UltraContact NXT, available in Europe, contains a particularly high proportion of sustainable materials. Many of the technologies contained in the tire were part of the Conti GreenConcept concept tire, which was first presented to the public at IAA Mobility 2021. These include silica made from rice husk ash or recycled PET bottles.

Production of the UltraContact NXT started in July 2023 in Lousado, Portugal. With up to 65% renewable, recycled, and mass-balance-certified materials, it also uses a high proportion of sustainable materials. All 19 available sizes received the top EU tire label rating of “A” in rolling resistance, braking in wet conditions, and exterior noise.

The interplay of efficient and sustainable technologies and materials is said by Continental to make its products particularly efficient when driving.

For example, the CityPlus technology concept presented at last year’s IAA Mobility by Klaus Kreipe, who heads Continental Tires’ original equipment business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, increases the overall energy efficiency of a car tire by up to a reported 10%. This means lower CO2 emissions for cars with combustion engines and greater range for EVs (electric vehicles) by optimizing tire behavior in inner-city stop-and-go traffic, which can increase the range of passenger cars by up to 3%. For EVs, this corresponds to a saving of around 0.6 kW·h per 100 km.

Continental says several OEMs have expressed interest in its latest technology, which could be used in production soon.

The company plans to use more than 40% renewable and recycled materials in its tires by 2023 and 100% sustainable materials in its tires by 2050 at the latest.