Continental says it has developed a concept tyre containing over 40% recycled materials for an EU project focusing on circular recycling and EVs.The EU project is called ZEvRA, which stands for "Zero Emission Electric Vehicles Enabled by Harmonized Circularity",Continental was the only tyre manufacturer among the project's 28 partners and said the concept tyre highlights the potential of innovative material approaches. It also demonstrates the need for a reliable framework when adopting recycling technologies on an industrial scale, the company said.AdvertisementAdvertisement"Circular materials can help save resources and energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They are key to making mobility more sustainable," said Dr. Andreas Topp, head of Platform Development and Industrialization for passenger-car tyres at Continental."We have extensive experience in developing high-performance materials from renewable and recycled sources. Our concept tyre shows what is technically possible today – while serving as a catalyst for the innovations of tomorrow," Topp added.Continental points out that tyres consist of 'numerous high-performance raw materials which are precisely balanced to ensure safety, efficiency and longevity'. These complex technical requirements make circularity particularly challenging, it says.Incorporating a high percentage of recycled materials into a safety-critical product while still meeting high performance standards therefore constitutes a significant step forward, Conti maintains. Further, the company says the concept tyre demonstrates the compatibility of sustainability and performance, achieving the highest rating for the EU rolling resistance label.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe ZEvRA concept tyre consists of around 43% recycled materials, including recycled tall oil, steel, rubber from end-of-life tires and polyester fibers made from recycled PET bottles. Continental also leverages technologies such as pyrolysis, which involves extracting materials like recovered carbon black (rCB) from end-of-life tyres so they can be repurposed for another use.Since 2023, recovered carbon black has been employed at the Korbach site in all newly produced solid rubber tyres. The tyres are fitted primarily on forklift trucks. In addition, sand – which forms as a residue in foundries, for example (rSand) – is used in a recycling process to manufacture an alternative silica variant. Recycling keeps materials in circulation and replaces the need for primary raw materials.Continental says the insights gained from developing the concept tyre will form the basis for further development of related materials and technologies at Continental, with a particular focus on industrial availability and processing of suitable recycling materials as well as scaling of manufacturing processes. The aim is to further increase the share of recycled materials used in future tyre generations.Continental also says it is continually increasing the share of recycled and renewable materials. Since 2022, polyester casings made from recycled PET bottles have been used in selected passenger-car tyres. With the UltraContact NXT, launched in 2023, the company introduced a production tyre with up to 65% renewable, recycled and mass-balance-certified materials.AdvertisementAdvertisementIn 2025, the share of purchased renewable and recycled production materials in Continental's tyre portfolio stood at 28%. This, Continental says, is set to rise to at least 40% by 2030."Continental develops concept tyre with 43% recycled materials" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.