At a digital event in the run-up to the Extreme E race in Greenland, Continental gave an overview of its commitment to the Extreme E series as well as the current sustainability projects of the Tires business area. “We have been investing in research and development for many years to drive innovative technologies, alternative and sustainable materials, and environmentally friendly production processes,” says Philipp von Hirschheydt, Head of Business Unit Replacement Tires at Continental. “Our cooperation with Extreme E is additionally an integral part of our strategy to roll out the priority of sustainability to new target groups.”
1. Overview
In the sustainability sector, Continental is pursuing ambitious goals and aiming to become the most progressive manufacturer in the tire industry by 2030. Efforts here are centered around the strategic topics of climate action, low-emission mobility, the circular economy and sustainable supply chains, thus embracing all phases of the value chain.
- Extreme E is a racing series for electric vehicles. It was explicitly founded to draw the attention of sports and, above all, motorsport fans to important environmental issues, especially the effects of climate change. Continental is acting as a founding partner and tire supplier.
- Sustainable and responsible business practices have for many years formed an integral part of corporate strategy at Continental. The topic is one of the four pillars of the Tires business area’s recently relaunched “Vision 2030” growth strategy.
- In the future, Continental would like to stop importing natural rubber exclusively from the tropics and produce it as close as possible to its tire plants in order to prevent ongoing deforestation and reduce the CO2 emissions caused by long transport routes. The premium tire manufacturer has been working on this since 2011 in its Taraxagum project.
- With COKOON, Continental has succeeded in replacing resorcinol and formaldehyde in tire textile production. Both substances were previously used to bond textile reinforcing materials with rubber compounds.
- In cooperation with the German Corporation for International Cooperation (“Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit”), Continental is training small farmers and establishes digital traceability systems throughout the supply chain.
- Continental enables the use of reprocessed polyester obtained from recycled plastic bottles in its tire production as of 2022. This can completely replace conventional polyester.
- The technology company increases the visibility of its female talents and promotes their global networking with numerous projects and initiatives,. These include a global diversity network and events such as Women@Work and an annual Diversity Summit.
2. Extreme E
Technological innovation and sustainability
Continental is a founding partner and premium sponsor of the Extreme E racing series. The premium manufacturer from Hanover equips all the vehicles in the series with tires for the different and very demanding conditions. Extreme E was explicitly founded to draw the attention of sports and, above all, motorsport fans to important environmental issues, especially the effects of climate change. The Extreme E series features all-electric race cars without exception. On site, only water and sunlight are needed to charge the vehicles. The solar energy is stored in the form of hydrogen and then converted back into electricity during charging.
„Extreme E first approached Continental in the fall of 2018 in search of an experienced tire developer and strategic partner“, explains Philipp von Hirschheydt. „We were quick to recognize that the organizers’ vision fits in very well with our corporate philosophy“. Through its commitment, Continental, together with Extreme E, would like to draw attention to the challenges of climate change occurring worldwide: „For a globally company like Continental, it is not just a matter of taking our own measures. We also want to make a contribution to drawing society’s attention to the challenges we are facing“, says von Hirschheydt.
Through the partnership, the company also demonstrates its technological capabilities in racing. The vehicle is a 1.78-ton electric-powered racing SUV with 550 horsepower. “In developing the tire, we overcame three major challenges: In addition to the very tight schedule, the weight is very high compared to other racing vehicles. A Formula E vehicle weighs only about half in comparison.
At the same time, the torque is very strong, as is usual with electric drives. The combination of these two factors puts an enormous strain on the tires,” explains Catarina Silva, Team Lead Product Management Summer, 4×4 and Van Products at Continental Tires.
After thorough testing, Continental’s developers chose the CrossContact off-road tire as the basis and adapted the design to meet the challenges of Extreme E. Since the tire has to deliver the same performance on all surfaces under any weather conditions, the developers extensively tested the CrossContact Extreme E on various test tracks and different surfaces. “The development period was very tight. However, we managed to handle many processes in parallel that would otherwise run classically one after the other. The entire development process was a great experience for the whole team,” says Silva.
3. “Vision 2030”
Continuing the success story through sustainable action
Continental set out its new strategic program for the Tires business area at the end of 2020. “Vision 2030”. “Vision 2030” is focused on the systematic customer-centric alignment of the organization and all its business activities. In addition, the Tires business area is targeting further profitable growth and, in a fast-changing market environment, aiming to set itself apart from the competition in respect of sustainability.
With this in mind, back in April 2020, all the relevant projects and activities worldwide were brought under the umbrella of the newly created Sustainability department. Sustainable and responsible business practices have for many years formed an integral part of corporate strategy at Continental. Efforts here are centered around the strategic topics of climate action, low-emission mobility, the circular economy and sustainable supply chains, thus embracing all phases of the value chain.
In order to arrive at a more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly tire of the future in respect of production, use and recyclability, Continental systematically invests in research and development in the fields of new technologies, alternative materials and environmentally compatible production processes. Through these efforts, by 2050 the tire manufacturer is aiming to gradually transition to 100 percent sustainably produced materials in its tire products.
The Tires business area is already the industry leader in the efficient and sustainable use of water and energy. As a result of years of hard work, today Continental already consumes 55 percent less water and 17 percent less energy than the industry average per metric ton of tires produced. By 2030, the aim is to achieve savings of an additional 20 percent in each case.
6. Sustainable supply chain
Responsible sourcing of natural rubber
Continental is actively promoting greater sustainability in the extraction of natural rubber through various strategic projects. This is because the company is aware of the environmental, human rights, and social risks of the entire value chain for natural rubber. Among other things, the premium tire manufacturer is therefore pursuing the goals of creating better working conditions for smallholders, protecting existing rainforest areas, and ensuring greater transparency and knowledge in the natural rubber sector through digital systems.
Continental estimates that up to six million small farmers are economically dependent on rubber extraction. In addition, up to seven different intermediaries, as well as processing companies, are involved before the natural rubber reaches the company’s factory gates. Tracking risks is therefore a major challenge.
As a founding member of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), Continental is actively promoting solutions for improved traceability together with partners. The company is also involved in a wide range of projects. These include the Rubberway joint venture, which specializes in identifying sustainability risks in the natural rubber supply chain, and the cooperation with the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), in which Continental is contributing to a project to train smallholders and introduce digital traceability systems throughout the supply chain.
7. Recycled PET bottles in tire production
Reprocessing of PET bottles for high mechanical requirements in tire manufacturing
Continental enables the use of reprocessed polyester obtained from recycled plastic bottles in its tire production as of 2022.
The new sustainable polyester yarn will be obtained from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles by a mechanical process and will be used in the construction of the tire carcass. This can completely replace conventional polyester.
Together with its cooperation partner and supplier OTIZ, a fiber specialist and textile manufacturer, the premium tire manufacturer has developed a special technology to recycle PET bottles without previously necessary intermediate chemical steps and to make the polyester yarn functional for the high mechanical requirements of the tire. In the course of so-called upcycling, a PET bottle becomes a high-performance PET material.
Laboratory and tire tests conducted by Continental have shown that secondary raw material fibers perform equally well as the fibers used up to now. They have the same quality as virgin PET, are just as stable, and are particularly suitable for tires due to their breaking strength, toughness and thermal stability.
Conventional PET has long been used as a material in car tire construction because it retains its shape even under high loads and temperatures and thus ensures safety at all driving speeds. The use of recycled PET conserves valuable resources in tire construction: today, a conventional passenger car tire 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 tires in the future.
With the use of recycled PET, the tire manufacturer succeeds in taking a further step toward circular economy. Already at this year’s IAA MOBILITY in Munich, Continental will present a highly innovative concept tire with polyester yarn made from recycled PET bottles.
8. Diversity
More female managers and work-life balance
Continental aims to increase the proportion of women in the first two management levels worldwide. Going above and beyond statutory requirements, Continental has therefore voluntarily committed to a target for the proportion of women in upper management levels not only in Germany but also in the company worldwide.
In 2020, the proportion of female managers at Continental was over 16 percent. Continental aims to increase this figure to 25 percent by 2025. By initiating numerous projects and programs, the technology company raises the profile of its talented female employees and supports global networking among them. This includes a global diversity network as well as events such as Women@Work and an annual diversity summit. Continental also offers the necessary working conditions to allow female employees to combine family and career.
The company promotes part-time work and flexible work arrangements. Back in 2016, it introduced a series of options such as working from home, mobile working and sabbaticals for all employees worldwide, well before the Corona crisis.
“Companies not only have to survive in an increasingly complex business world, they also have to serve the needs of a diverse clientele – that can only be done with the best employees, regardless of origin or gender,” says Philipp von Hirschheydt. “Here, too, I see the connection to Extreme E. The individual teams are required to start with a balanced gender ratio. This is also Continental‘s goal in all our projects.”
