From January 2021, in the EMEA region, Continental will no longer use one of the two stickers previously used on new tyres.
Continental to Reduce Plastic Waste
Through this move, the tyre manufacturer will avoid approximately 110 metric tons of plastic waste per year in the form of the stickers themselves − at present duly disposed of by the tyre trade and workshops − and the backing foil, which is removed at the tyre plants. In total, the backing foil and stickers would have a length of around 6.4 km – more than three times the length of the boulevard Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris.
The information needed by the trade, such as the tyre brand, size, article number and other data, appears on the EU tyre label that is required by law in the European Union and some other countries. The second sticker, which is no longer in use, additionally bore the logo of the relevant Group brand, such as Continental, Uniroyal, Semperit or Barum.
“By dispensing with these stickers, we are taking an important step towards our corporate goal of sustainability and helping to reduce and substitute the fossil-based content of our worldwide production operations,” says Claus Petschick who heads up the Sustainability department at Continental, explaining the relevance of this change. “We are in the process of converting our entire production chain to sustainable materials. Avoiding waste, and plastic waste in particular, is the best step we can take along this road because it also helps to conserve our natural resources.”
