Recovered carbon black will be used for mass production of tires, and the two companies have reached long-term procurement cooperation

On July 30, Continental and Pyrum Innovations jointly announced that they had signed a long-term purchase agreement aimed at using recycled carbon black in the mass production of future passenger car tires. In Continental's passenger car tire manufacturing, carbon black used accounts for 15%-20% of the total tire, and the specific proportion varies depending on the tire model. By introducing recycled carbon black, Continental is making steady progress towards its set 2030 goal of using more than 40% renewable and recyclable materials in tires.

According to the Carbon Black Industry Network, Continental Germany and Pyrum Innovations have had in-depth cooperation since 2022, when the two companies signed a development agreement to jointly improve and expand the recycling rate of scrapped tires through thermal cracking technology.

Jorge Almeida, head of sustainability at Continental Tire, emphasized the growing importance of recycled raw materials in the company's tire production. In order to promote product recycling, we need to change from the traditional concept of "scrapped" tires to the concept of "end-use" tires. This means that the end of the tire's use phase should be regarded as the beginning of a new life cycle. Continental is working closely with Pyrum to develop efficient processes to recover as many components and materials as possible from used tyres and reintegrate them into the production cycle.

Tire recycling requires advanced technology and sophisticated processes to ensure effective separation, cleaning and recycling of materials without compromising safety and quality. Security has always been Continental's top priority.

Pascal Klein, CEO of Pyrum Innovations, said that as a development partner, they will continue to improve their technology for recycling carbon black to ensure that it meets Continental's needs in the mass production of passenger car tires. They have successfully applied recycled carbon black to new forklift tires produced by Continental Group at its Kolbach plant in Hesse, marking another important milestone on the road to sustainable development for both parties.

Looking to the future, Continental has set an ambitious goal of increasing the use of sustainable materials in tires to 100% by 2050. Recycling carbon black will play a key role in this process. As an important part of the closed-loop system, used tires will become valuable raw materials for new tire manufacturing in the future.