As part of the EU-funded Zero Emission Electric Vehicles Enabled by Harmonized Circularity project, also known as Zevra, Continental has developed a concept tire made from around 43% recycled materials. The concept tire highlights the potential of innovative material approaches. It also demonstrates the need for a reliable framework when adopting recycling technologies on an industrial scale.
Dr Andreas Topp, head of platform development and industrialization for passenger-car tires at Continental, said “Circular materials can help save resources and energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They are key to making mobility more sustainable.”
The two-year EU project, which will conclude in 2026, is aimed at optimizing the circular economy of electric vehicles along the entire value chain.
Tires combine numerous high-performance materials to meet demanding safety, efficiency and durability requirements, making circularity particularly challenging. The concept tire demonstrates that a high proportion of recycled materials can be incorporated without compromising performance, achieving the highest EU rolling-resistance rating.
The Zevra concept tire consists of 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 such as recovered carbon black (rCB) from end-of-life tires so they can be repurposed for another use. 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.
The concept tire demonstrates the potential for more circular tire production, with findings set to support further development of recycling materials and manufacturing processes. Continental aims to increase the proportion of recycled materials used in future tire generations while addressing industrial availability and production scalability.
Clear regulatory frameworks are essential
Recovered carbon black is one example of a recycling solution that is already in effective use today. At the same time, there are many processes still in industrialization. “The Zevra project shows that technological progress can only achieve its full impact when reliable, aligned frameworks provide planning certainty and support the market ramp-up of new processes,” Topp explained.
Wider use of recycled materials will require Europe-wide definitions and clear criteria for classifying processed substances as recycled raw materials, according to Continental. Continued development of recycling technologies, infrastructure, resilient supply chains and internationally coordinated material-flow processes will also be needed to ensure sufficient supplies of high-quality recycled materials.
“The next step is to establish innovative recycling technologies on an industrial scale and set up closed material flows. This is essential to accelerate the transformation to a resource- and climate-friendly circular economy,” explained Jorge Almeida, Continental’s head of sustainability. “A standardized approach to calculation and reporting should be developed through close dialog between policymakers and stakeholders. If implemented through regulation, it must be simple, transparent and easy for consumers to understand in order to promote genuine progress rather than create unnecessary bureaucracy,” he added.
In addition to recycled materials, renewable raw materials also play an important role. The share of renewable raw materials in the concept tire is around 13%. A further 25% consists of mass-balance-certified materials. Together with the roughly 43% share of recycled materials, more than 80% of the materials used in the Zevra concept tire come from recycled, renewable or mass-balance-certified sources.
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