Continental using recovered carbon black in solid tyres

Continental says it is continuing to step up its activities to ensure a circular economy.

Recently, the tyre manufacturer added recovered carbon black (rCB) to its newly produced Super Elastic solid tyres at its tyre plant in Korbach, Germany, thus reducing the use of fossil raw materials and CO2 emissions.

Solid tyres such as Continental’s SC20+ already contain around 60 per cent renewable and recycled materials thanks to their high natural rubber content. By 2050 at the latest, Continental says it aims to use 100 per cent sustainable materials in its tyre products.

The recovered carbon black is supplied by Pyrum Innovations, one of Continental’s partner companies. Pyrum breaks down end-of-life-tyres into their individual components in industrial furnaces using a special pyrolysis process. This allows valuable raw materials contained in end-of-life-tires to be extracted and recycled.

Solid tyres have a high load capacity and are extremely stable, puncture-proof, maintenance-free and highly economical. They are mainly used in material handling by forklift trucks, airport vehicles, heavy transport vehicles, sideloaders, platform trucks and other industrial vehicles.

“Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in the specialty tyre segment. Our Super Elastic solid tyres combine low rolling resistance, long service life and a comparatively high proportion of sustainable materials,” says Matthias-Stephan Muller, product manager for material handling tyres in Continental’s Specialty Tires business area.