Indian tire manufacturer GRI has announced the launch of environmentally friendly solid material handling tire, the Ultimate Green XT.
Containing 42.8% sustainable materials, the Ultimate Green XT includes several bio-sourced and recycled materials, including reclaimed rubber from end-of-life tires and recycled carbon black.
Produced using pure natural rubber and silica, the latest tire from GRI is said to offer a higher energy efficiency due to a 20.4% lower rolling resistance than currently available tires. With a 26.6% lower abrasion loss the Ultimate Green XT is also expected to have a longer service life.
With a lower heat build-up and improved endurance, GRI has designed the tire to carry out operations 24 hours a day. The tread compound of the non-marking, green color version features a highly dispersible silica and no carbon black, in turn lowering the abrasion loss and reducing the number of particles released into the environment. Recycled carbon black is utilized for the tire’s center and base. The Indian tire manufacturer has utilized natural oil instead of petroleum oil, and carbon nanotubes have been used in the black version of the tire.
“The Ultimate Green XT solid tire for the material handling industry is a result of our drive to create and manufacture products that are sustainable,” explained Mahesha Ranasoma, CEO, GRI. “[The tire] was developed over two years and tested rigorously. Powerful and robust, this tire epitomizes GRI’s advanced engineering, research, development and manufacturing capabilities.”
“In creating the Ultimate Green XT, we not only considered environmental protection by using a high degree of sustainable materials, but we also focused on improving performance such as increasing energy saving of forklifts as well as extending the lifetime of the tire,” explained Prabhash Subasinghe, managing director, GRI. “With innovations such as this, we strive to inspire our industry toward making a positive impact on our planet.”
