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international news
Continental Enables Use of Recycled PET Bottles in Tyre Produc
Continental will enable the use of reprocessed poly- ester obtained from recycled plastic bottles in its tyre production from 2022 onwards. The new sus- tainable polyester yarn will be obtained from polyethene terephthalate (PET) bottles by a mechanical process and will be used in the construction of the tyre carcass. This can completely replace conventional polyester.
Together with its cooperation partner and supplier OTIZ, - ufacturer has developed a special technology to recycle PET bottles without the previously essential intermediate chemical steps to make the polyester yarn functional for the high mechanical requirements of the tyre. In the course of so-called upcycling, a PET bottle can become a high- performance PET material.
"As early as 2022, we will be able to use material obtained from recycled PET bottles in tyre production. In our inno- PET without having to break the material down into com- ponents beforehand," says Dr Andreas Topp, responsible for materials, process development and industrialisation in Continental Tires’ business area. He adds: "Already at this year's IAA Mobility in Munich, we will present a highly in- novative concept tyre with polyester yarn made from recy- cled PET bottles. With the use of recycled polyester yarn, we are taking another important step in the direction of a cross-product circular economy."
- mechanical shredding, they are melted down and granu- lated; this is followed by solid-state polymerisation and a process enables us to obtain polyester yarn for tyre con- struction from PET bottles without any polymerisation pro- cess from monomers," explains Dr Derren Huang, Chief of Research and Development at OTIZ.
Laboratory and tyre tests conducted by Continental have quality as virgin PET, are just as stable, and are particular- ly suitable for tyres due to their breaking strength, tough- ness and thermal stability.
Conventional PET has long been used as a material in car tyre construction because it retains its shape even under heavy loads and temperatures and thus ensures safety at all driving speeds. The use of recycled PET conserves valuable resources in tyre construction: today, a conven- tional passenger car tyre consists of around 400 grams of polyester yarn. This means that more than 60 recycled PET bottles can be used for a complete set of vehicle tyres in the future.
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