Continental is making huge strides in using sustainable and recyclable raw materials.

Car tyres are round, black and made of rubber. Look closer, however, and you’ll see that the design of tyres and the interaction of the various materials that go into making them are extremely complex. But for some time now, material experts and tyre engineers at Continental have been bringing about a silent revolution. By 2050 at the latest, all tyres are to be made of sustainable materials. There is still a long way to go until then. But step by step, it is already becoming apparent which raw materials will find their way into tyre construction in the future. These include waste products from agriculture (such as the ash from rice husks), rubber from dandelions, recycled rubber or PET bottles.

Claus Petschick, Head of Sustainability at Continental Tires, is clear about Continental’s mission, saying, “Continental is on the road toward becoming the most progressive manufacturer in the tyre industry in terms of sustainability. We aim to use 100 percent sustainable materials in our tyre products by 2050 at the latest. Our innovative power enables us to break new and even more sustainable ground. This encompasses everything from the origin and sourcing of our materials through to the reuse and recycling of our tyres.”

Already today, around 15-20 percent renewable or recycled materials are used in a standard passenger car tyre from Continental. To further increase the proportion of sustainable materials and conserve valuable resources, Continental continuously analyses and reviews all raw materials used in tyre production.

Perfect material matching for maximum safety 
Depending on the application, season and environment, tyres have to fulfill specific requirements. This can be seen in, for example, the tread design. But in other areas – the composition of the rubber compound, for example – these changes are not so readily visible. Passenger car tyres from Continental consist of as many as a hundred different raw materials.

Their precise composition has a major impact on the tyres and their handling characteristics. The ability to deploy the various materials with their unique properties and interdependencies in specific ways is a complex balancing act for Continental’s engineers and material experts. Only when all the materials are ideally matched to each other can safe, energy-efficient and durable high-performance tyres be created.

Natural rubber still essential due to exceptional properties
Natural rubber is essential for ensuring outstanding tyre performance. This natural product accounts for between 10 and 40 percent of the entire weight of modern high-performance tyres. Its special properties include the high level of strength and durability, which are caused by the strain-induced crystallisation of the rubber. The tyre industry is the biggest consumer of global rubber production, accounting for more than 70 percent. However, Continental considers natural rubber a sustainable material only if it is sourced responsibly. Therefore, the company employs an integrated approach aimed at making the complex and fragmented supply chains for natural rubber more sustainable, including using cutting-edge digital technology, local involvement and close collaboration with capable partners with the goal of improving transparency and traceability along the entire value chain. Meanwhile, with its Taraxagum project, Continental is pursuing an innovative approach to ensure that it can become less dependent on natural rubber grown primarily in southeast Asia. The tyre manufacturer is working alongside partners on industrialising the extraction of natural rubber from specially cultivated dandelion plants.

Sustainable plant-based fillers 
In addition to rubber, fillers such as silica are essential to tyre assembly. Silica, for example, helps to optimise characteristics such as grip, rolling resistance and tyre life. In the future, rice husks will be used as the source material for sustainably-produced silica. Rice husks are a waste product of rice production and cannot be used as food or animal feed. Silica derived from the ash of rice husks is more energy-efficient when used in manufacturing than that obtained from conventional materials such as quartz sand.

Plant-based oils, such as rapeseed oil and resins based on residual materials from the paper and wood industries, already offer an alternative to crude-oil-based fillers in Continental's tyres. Only oils that meet technical quality standards and are not suitable for consumption are used. Oils and resins allow for flexibility in terms of tyre compounds and so improve the material’s grip.

Expanding the circular economy
Continental is aiming for fully circular operations in its tyre production by 2050 at the latest. In addition to the use of renewable materials, the company is working systematically on using recycled raw materials in tyre production. This is intended to ensure that carbon black – another crucial filler in rubber compounds – can be obtained on a large scale in the future. Continental recently signed a development agreement with Pyrum Innovations with a view to further optimising the recycling of materials from old tyres. To do this, Pyrum breaks the old tyres down into their constituent parts in an industrial furnace using a special pyrolysis process. This way, valuable raw materials contained in end-of-life tyres can be extracted and recycled. Both companies are working towards obtaining high-quality raw materials from the pyrolysis oil obtained for Continental's tyre production in the medium-term, in addition to the direct use of high-quality carbon black. In the long-term, the tyre manufacturer and Pyrum are aiming to establish a closed loop circular economy concept for the recycling of old tyres.

Recycled rubber from end-of-life tyres
In addition to pyrolysis, Continental is also making use of mechanical processing of end-of-life tyres. Rubber, steel and textile cord in particular are separated from one another in a highly sophisticated process. The rubber is then prepared for re-use as part of new rubber compounds.

Continental has a long history of working consistently to introduce end-of-life tyres into the circular economy to conserve resources and the environment. A material known as Conti-Reclaim has been obtained as part of the truck tyre retreading process at the company’s plant in Stöcken in Hanover since 2013. It has been used in tyre production at Continental for years. To expand the range of applications for the recycled rubber and optimise the properties for the various fields of application, Continental uses not only Conti-Reclaim but also recycled rubber from other suppliers.

Recycled plastic bottles in tyre casing 
“Recycled raw materials are going to play a big role in making tyres more sustainable. We use recycled materials whenever possible. Comparable quality and material properties to conventional raw materials are crucial for us,” says Petschick.

For example, Continental is working with partners to obtain high-quality polyester yarn for its tyres from recycled PET bottles. PET bottles often end up in incinerators or landfills otherwise. With its ContiRe.Tex technology, the tyre manufacturer has developed a more energy-efficient and eco-friendly alternative that allows it to reuse between nine and fifteen plastic bottles for each tyre, depending on the tyre size. The recycled PET has already replaced conventional polyester in the structures of some tyre casing. The PET bottles used are sourced exclusively from regions where there is no closed recycling loop.

Systematically moving toward greater sustainability
Continental is working to advance innovative technologies and sustainable products and services throughout its entire value chain, from sourcing sustainable materials to recycling end-of-life tyres. The company is aiming to achieve 100 percent carbon neutrality by 2050 at the latest.

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As Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks expand globally, the tyre industry is undergoing a structural transformation. Collection systems are improving, traceability is increasing and investments in recycling technologies are accelerating. However, one critical tension remains insufficiently addressed: the speed of industry evolution is outpacing the agility of public policy. And within that gap, one key question emerges: where does retreading fit in this new circular economy architecture?

A STRUCTURAL PARADOX

Retreading represents one of the most efficient forms of resource optimisation in the tyre lifecycle. It extends product life, reduces raw material consumption and lowers emissions. Yet, in many regulatory frameworks, it is still treated ambiguously – often grouped with recycling rather than recognised as prevention or preparation for reuse. This distinction is not semantic. It is strategic. Because when policy fails to differentiate, markets fail to prioritise.

A FAST-MOVING INDUSTRY, A SLOW-MOVING FRAMEWORK

The tyre market is evolving in real time:

1. Increasing penetration of low-cost imports.
2. Growing variability in product quality.
3. Accelerated turnover cycles.

Retreading, in this context, becomes more than a circular solution. It becomes a filter of industrial quality. Not all tyres are equally retreadable. And that difference defines their real contribution to circularity. Yet most EPR systems continue to operate with uniform economic signals, failing to distinguish between products that enable multiple lifecycles and those that exit the system after a single use.

SIGNALS FROM EUROPE

Recent developments in countries like Portugal – where eco-fees applied to retreaded tyres approach those of low-cost, non-differentiated new tyres – highlight a concerning trend. Similarly, in Spain, industry representatives continue to advocate for a clearer institutional recognition of retreading within EPR systems. These cases illustrate a broader issue: circular policies can unintentionally undermine higher-value circular strategies.

THE MISSING LINK: PERFORMANCE-BASED POLICY

What is missing is not regulation. It is regulatory precision. EPR systems have successfully organised waste flows. But they have not yet evolved to reward performance within the lifecycle. This is where eco-modulation becomes critical.

ECO-MODULATION AS A STRATEGIC LEVER

Eco-modulation should not be a marginal adjustment. It should be a core industrial policy tool. Properly designed, it can:

• Differentiate tyres based on real circular
• performance.
• Incentivise durability and retreadability.
• Penalise short-lifecycle, non-recoverable products.
• Align market behaviour with system objectives.
• To operationalise this, we need new metrics.

FROM COMPLIANCE TO PERFORMANCE: A PROPOSED FRAMEWORK

The next step for EPR systems is to move towards performance-based differentiation. This could be implemented through instruments such as:

• Retreadability Index (RI)
• Performance Score (CPS)

These would measure:

• Number of effective retreading cycles per tyre.
• Structural durability and casing quality.
• Real contribution to lifecycle extension.

Under such a system:

• Tyres with higher retreadability would receive lower eco-fees.
• Products that systematically fail to re-enter the cycle
• would face higher costs.
• This is not just a technical refinement. It is a shift from:
• Generic compliance.
• To intelligent market shaping.

THE LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE

In Latin America, the stakes are even higher.

The region faces:

• Structural dependence on imported tyres.
• Strong presence of low-cost, low-durability products.
• Emerging EPR frameworks (Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador)

Chile, for example, through its EPR law (Ley REP), has made significant progress in structuring collection and recovery targets. However, like many systems, it still faces the challenge of fully integrating reuse strategies into its economic logic. Under these conditions, retreading is not just an environmental solution. It is a strategic industrial capability.

BEYOND WASTE MANAGEMENT

Latin America has a unique opportunity to design EPR systems not only to manage waste

but to govern resources and shape markets.

This means:

• Incentivising retreadable tyres
• Strengthening local retreading industries
• Reducing dependence on short-lifecycle imports
• Building resilience into supply chains

But this requires something critical: policy agility. Because if regulation lags behind market dynamics, it will not transform the system – it will merely formalise its inefficiencies.

A STRATEGIC CONCLUSION

If EPR systems are designed without properly integrating retreading – and without differentiating based on actual circular performance – they risk reinforcing a linear logic under a circular narrative. For emerging regions, this would be a critical mistake

The discussion around repair, reuse and retreading can no longer be treated merely as a waste management issue. It is increasingly becoming a matter of industrial resilience, strategic autonomy and economic security.

As global supply chains face growing pressure from geopolitical fragmentation, logistics disruptions and volatility in raw material markets, extending the useful life of products is emerging as a strategic capability for nations and industries alike.

In this context, Right to Repair should not be understood only as a consumer right but also as an industrial policy tool capable of strengthening local economies, reducing external dependency, preserving technical capabilities and supporting more resilient production systems.

Retreading, remanufacturing and reuse are part of a broader transition where value creation is no longer based exclusively on extraction and disposal but increasingly on intelligence, efficiency and lifecycle management.

CIRCULARITY WITHOUT HIERARCHY BECOMES INEFFICIENCY. REGULATION WITHOUT DIFFERENTIATION BECOMES DISTORTION.

Final note

The future of the tyre industry will not be defined only by how we recycle, but by how intelligently we extend the life of what we already produce. And that requires alignment between:

• Industry dynamics.
• Policy design.
• And strategic vision.

In that equation, retreading must move from the margins to the centre. Because properly understood, it is not just a process. It is a strategic filter, an industrial policy tool and a geopolitical lever.

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The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) has released its market report for May 2026, depicting a sector characterised by sustained price strength and firm fundamentals. The global natural rubber market received additional upward momentum from a decline in Brent crude oil prices, which averaged USD 107.14 per barrel during the month. This represented a month-on-month decrease of 8.65 percent, attributed to easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which collectively bolstered the commodity's outlook.

Global production projections for 2026 stand at 15.337 million tonnes, marking a 2.4 percent increase from the previous year, with growth driven by Thailand, China, India and Malaysia, even as output moderates in Indonesia and Vietnam. Monthly production, however, fell to 997,000 tonnes in May, a year-on-year decline of 4.7 percent, due to seasonal wintering and dry weather conditions across South and Southeast Asia. Concurrently, worldwide consumption is forecast to rise by 1.3 percent to 15.550 million tonnes for the year, with May's consumption reaching 1.310 million tonnes, a 4.6 percent annual increase. This demand was underpinned by steady tyre manufacturing, electric vehicle-related consumption and resilient purchasing managers' indices in China and India, alongside record auto retail sales in India.

Physical prices for all major grades recorded broad-based gains throughout May, with SMR-20, STR-20, RSS-3, RSS-4 and latex all experiencing increases. Trade flows showed a mixed pattern, as imports from China and India contracted month-on-month, while Malaysia and Vietnam registered significant gains. On the export front, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand recorded increases, whereas Indonesia and Malaysia saw declines. Currency movements saw the Malaysian ringgit ease slightly, while the Thai baht traded within a stable range, and both nations reported decelerating GDP growth for the first quarter of 2026. Futures contracts on the SHFE and SGX reflected tightening supply and firm demand, posting notable month-on-month gains.

The market outlook remains cautiously balanced against a backdrop of several macroeconomic factors. Elevated trade tensions between United States and China, ongoing geopolitical conflicts and a steady United States Federal Reserve interest rate policy present potential headwinds. However, these are being offset by supportive elements, including the accelerating adoption of electric vehicles, tight feedstock supply due to adverse weather and the positive market sentiment generated by the European Union's decision to lower anti-dumping duties on Chinese tyres.

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Zeon Corporation has introduced a novel data management system specifically designed for elastomer research and development, marking the company’s first foray into a subscription-based service model. The platform is engineered to centralise and streamline R&D data pertaining to rubber products, with the primary goal of enhancing operational efficiency and accelerating developmental processes for its clientele. The initial phase of the rollout will concentrate on the Japanese market, with a strategic plan to broaden access to other regions in the future.

The elastomer industry frequently grapples with the fragmentation of data across disparate systems, which complicates the effective utilisation of historical information. Through extensive experience in elastomer supply and sustained client engagement, Zeon has identified this operational hurdle as a pervasive issue affecting the entire sector. This recognition has been the catalyst for developing a solution that directly confronts these data management deficiencies.

The newly launched system incorporates specialised functionalities that are finely attuned to the nuances of rubber product R&D. It integrates a comprehensive database that combines master data for key compounding agents available in Japan with extensive catalogue information, facilitating rapid and efficient data access for daily research tasks. The platform’s intuitive interface and user experience are meticulously crafted to optimise usability and data visualisation, with a commitment to ongoing enhancements based on evolving customer requirements.

Zeon has formally designated this data management solution as a growth driver for its strategic initiatives, extending beyond the Phase 3 objectives of its STAGE30 medium-term plan. The company envisions this business becoming a cornerstone of its strategy to augment the value proposition of its elastomer operations. By synergising its deep-seated elastomer expertise with advanced data utilisation technologies, Zeon is poised to foster innovation in client R&D and propel the overall advancement of the elastomer industry.

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A new bio-based cut & chip resin for the most demanding applications.

NaugaShield BIO-TR 30 is SI Group’s latest advancement in bio-based performance resins designed to significantly improve cut and chip resistance in high-severity rubber applications. With approximately 75 percent bio-based content, this innovative material delivers on sustainability targets while exceeding the performance typically associated with petroleum-derived resins, making it a strong choice for applications such as OTR tyres in mining, construction and agriculture, mining conveyor belts, rubber tracks and mill linings.

Cut and chip resistance is a complex set of material behaviours, including static mechanical strength, dynamic response under deformation and ability to withstand sharp impacts and abrasive environments. In demanding applications such as mining or agriculture, materials must tolerate repeated high-strain loading and resist the initiation and propagation of tears. NaugaShield™ BIO-TR 30 was developed precisely to meet these conditions, demonstrating notably low dynamic heat buildup and excellent tear strength – characteristics closely tied to enhanced cut and chip resistance and long-term durability under cyclical loads.

To evaluate its performance, NaugaShield BIO-TR 30 was benchmarked in an Off-road Rib Tread formulation against two widely used industry references: a gum rosin/semi-aromatic C5/C9 resin combination and a styrenated DCPD resin. All materials were tested at an equal loading of 10 phr to provide a direct and unbiased comparison. Under these conditions, the bio-based resin consistently outperformed both alternatives, offering a stronger balance of reinforcing behaviour, improved tear propagation resistance and superior resistance to thermal degradation during dynamic flexing. Further improvements were achievable by reducing the amount of free extender oil in the compound, underscoring the resin’s adaptability in formulation design and its ability to unlock even greater performance when optimised.

These laboratory indicators were corroborated through extended Coesfeld Cut & Chip testing (see chart), in which compounds were subjected to up to 3,000 cycles at 200 rpm under a 200N applied force. Formulations containing NaugaShield BIO-TR 30 exhibited substantially lower mass loss and maintained tread surface integrity more effectively than the hydrocarbon and gum rosin-based-benchmarks. The performance advantage was even more pronounced in compounds adjusted for lower free oil content, confirming that the resin can be tailored to meet the durability requirements of the most challenging operating conditions.

The strong performance of NaugaShield BIO-TR 30 in OTR tread compounds can be readily transferred to other rubber goods that encounter similar wear mechanisms. Applications such as mining belts, agricultural and construction tracks or mill linings benefit from the resin’s ability to reinforce the rubber matrix, reduce crack growth under repeated impact and maintain structural cohesion under high-strain deformation. This versatility allows manufacturers to integrate a 75 percent bio-based resin that supports sustainability by reducing fossil-based content and helping end products last longer while maintaining – and often improving – operational performance across multiple product lines.

NaugaShield BIO-TR 30 is currently available in commercial quantities, enabling compounders and manufacturers to move directly from laboratory evaluation to pilot- and production-scale trials.

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