Continental Tire commits to recycled content in Europe

The Continental Tires business unit of Germany-based Continental AG has reached a long-term purchase agreement with Pyrum Innovations to provide Continental with recycled-content carbon black (rCB) to be used in tire production.

Continental says Pyrum, also based in Germany, is a specialist in the thermolysis technology of end-of-life tires whose process can create particularly high-quality rCB recovered from end-of-life tires.

The company intends to use rCB in the production of passenger car tires. Continental previously had signed a development agreement with Pyrum in 2022. That same year, Pyrum announced a joint venture agreement to build a pyrolysis-based tire recycling plant in southern Germany.

Continental says carbon black is an important raw material both for tire production and for the manufacture of other industrial rubber products, since it increases the stability, strength and durability of tires. The company notes that carbon black recovered from end-of-life tires helps reduce the use of fossil fuel-based raw materials and CO₂ emissions.

“Recycled raw materials are becoming increasingly important in our tire production,” says Jorge Almeida, head of sustainability at Continental Tires. “To further increase the circularity of our products, we need to think differently. We need to move from an ‘end-of-life’ to an ‘end-of-use’ tire concept.

“Together with Pyrum, we are developing highly efficient processes to recycle as many components and materials as possible from an end-of-use tire back into our production cycle.”

Continental tires already contain recycled materials, including rubber from mechanically processed end-of-life tires, recycled-content steel and recycled polyester from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.

“The expansion of our cooperation with Continental is a very important step for us," Pyrum CEO Pascal Klein says. "To ensure that Continental can also use our recovered carbon black in the series production of passenger tires in the future, we are continuously working on its further development as part of a development partnership.”

According to Klein, the two companies previously have cooperated toward ensuring that all newly produced forklift tires at the Continental tire plant in Korbach, Germany, contain Pyrum's sustainable carbon black.

As part of its sustainability strategy, Continental aims to increase the use of sustainable materials in its tires to 100 percent by 2050, with recycled-content materials making an important contribution.