Continental has extended its project to enhance sustainability in smallholder natural rubber cultivation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH by three years. Since 2018, around 5,000 local smallholders in West Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia, have already been trained to cultivate high-quality natural rubber in line with clearly defined... Read more →

Bridgestone Corporation has developed a Tire and Road Wear Particles (TRWP) vehicle collection method aimed at understanding the environmental impact of TRWP. TRWP are the result of friction between the tire and the road surface, which is essential to ensuring a safe, comfortable journey. It consists of a mixture of... Read more →

LANXESS’ new rubber additive Vulkanox HS Scopeblue supports tire manufacturers in producing more sustainable, longer-lasting tires and in achieving their sustainability goals. The antidegradant from the specialty chemicals company is the sustainable variant of the proven antioxidant Vulkanox HS (TMQ), which tire manufacturers use to protect their products from adverse... Read more →

Bridgestone has been chosen by Porsche to develop bespoke tires for its new Macan Electric and Panamera models. Both vehicles are now available with custom-engineered Bridgestone Potenza Sport ultra-high-performance tires. The third generation of Porsche’s sporting luxury sedan, the Panamera, can also be fitted with tailor-made Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 tires—Bridgestone's... Read more →

Orion S.A., a global specialty chemicals company, signed a long-term supply agreement with Contec S.A., which will provide Orion tire pyrolysis oil to produce circular carbon black for tire and rubber goods customers. The agreement with Warsaw, Poland-based Contec further enables Orion to diversify its sources of tire pyrolysis oil,... Read more →

International Airlines Group (IAG) has invested in Wastefront, a leading tire-to-fuel company, which plans to turn used tires into Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The SAF will be made by converting waste tires into tire-derived oil (TDO), which is then refined into road fuels and SAF. The SAF produced is expected... Read more →

Yokohama Rubber has begun practical testing of a technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to gauge air pressure from the sound made by tapping truck and bus tires. Using AI to gauge tire air pressure from the sound made by tapping the tire, which previously relied on the driver’s experience,... Read more →

The German Federal Environment Agency estimates that the contact of tires with the road surface produces abrasion particles amounting to at least 100,000 tons per year. This corresponds to approximately one-third of the microplastic emissions released every year in Germany. Due to their higher weight, vehicles with an electric drive... Read more →

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, in collaboration with TNO, has demonstrated the integration of tire intelligence technology into the automatic emergency braking (AEB) system of a vehicle. Building on the success of Goodyear’s and TNO’s integration of tire intelligence into antilock braking systems (ABS) showcased at CES 2024, this... Read more →

The Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is teaming up with Bridgestone, one of the world’s largest tire makers, to scale up a chemical process that converts ethanol into butadiene—synthetic rubber’s most important ingredient. At the center of the collaboration sits a catalyst developed by PNNL researchers that cuts... Read more →

​ ​Brembo—a global leader in the design, development, and production of braking solutions—and Michelin—a leading tire manufacturer and innovative expert in composites—signed a global agreement to exploit the full potential of their intelligent solutions to revolutionize vehicle performance and offer drivers the highest safety and comfort standards. For this partnership,... Read more →

Trek Bicycle and Liberty Tire Recycling launched a bicycle tire recycling program across all Trek-owned stores in North America. This initiative aims to provide cyclists with a free and responsible way to recycle their used bicycle tires. Cyclists can bring their worn-out bicycle tires to a participating Trek store, where... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency is issuing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) under Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to gather information on the potential risks associated with N-(1,3-Dimethylbutyl)-N′-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine (6PPD) and its transformation product, 6PPD-quinone. (Earlier post.) In August 2023, the Yurok Tribe, the Port... Read more →

Bridgestone Corporation will collaborate with Astrobotic Technology to develop a lunar rover tire jointly. Bridgestone developed a concept model of first- and second-generation tires utilizing its knowledge cultivated for more than 90 years of its tire development history, and conducted validation experiments, such as driving tests and simulations. Drawing on... Read more →

Stellantis unveiled its innovative Moving Ground Plane (MGP) technology—a $29.5-million investment—at the company’s research and technical center in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The upgraded wind tunnel will be able to measure and reduce airflow resistance from wheels and tires, which can account for up to 10% of total real-world aerodynamic drag.... Read more →

Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) received a grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office. Bridgestone will design, build and operate a pilot plant that will advance an innovative, potentially more sustainable and cost-effective approach to obtaining butadiene from ethanol. The project will evaluate the economic and... Read more →

Audi selected Bridgestone to develop bespoke ultra-high-performance tires for the new Audi e-tron GT family. The collaboration continues Bridgestone's long-standing relationship with Audi, with nearly every fifth car that the manufacturer sells globally equipped with Bridgestone tires. The result is the Bridgestone Potenza Sport A premium tire, which has been... Read more →

Nokian Tyres and the Swedish biomaterials company Reselo AB have signed a development agreement to develop further their renewable material Reselo Rubber as a new raw material in tires. Reselo Rubber is a completely renewable material made from birch bark that comes from residues from the global pulp, paper and... Read more →

Continental will offer automated tire tread depth measurements for the first time using its new ContiConnect sensor generation. Fleet operators are now able to obtain precise and daily updated data on the rate of wear of their commercial vehicle tires. In conjunction with AI-based algorithms, upcoming tire services for individual... Read more →

Trederra, a provider of sustainable material recycled rubber solutions for the footwear market, announced an exclusive supply agreement with Tyre Recycling Solutions (TRS) of Switzerland supporting the production of Trederra footwear outsoles made from end-of-life tires. TRS will supply Trederra with CT-50 rubber powder which is manufactured using the patented... Read more →

The Mitsubishi Chemical Group has launched studies to perform chemical recycling of end-of-life tires (ELTs) by utilizing the coke ovens at its Kagawa Plant (Sakaide City, Kagawa Prefecture). The MCG Group aims to begin marketing sustainable carbon black made from ELTs by March 2026. Along with the accelerating trend in... Read more →

Continental has concluded a long-term purchase agreement with Pyrum Innovations, a specialist in the thermolysis technology of end-of-life tires, for particularly high-quality carbon black (rCB) recovered from end-of-life tires. Pyrum thermolysis involves the thermal decomposition of organic substances or rubber and plastic waste in the absence of oxygen. The process... Read more →

Edison Agrosciences, an industrial biomaterials company leveraging crop agriculture and technology, has closed a $600,000 seed financing round. This investment was made possible by the support of current and new investors, including BioGenerator, Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC), Crisp & Company, LLC and others. Edison Agrosciences is developing more sustainable, domestic... Read more →

UPM Biochemicals and Nokian Tyres, a leading developer and manufacturer of premium tires, introduced a concept tire partly based on UPM BioMotion Renewable Functional Fillers (RFF). The partnership will launch UPM’s CO₂-negative Renewable Functional Fillers into a new market segment and highlights the possibilities to use a lighter weight, 100%... Read more →

Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI), in collaboration mainly with Makina Saito, Associate Professor at Tohoku University; Takaki Hatsui, Group Director at RIKEN; and Yoshitaka Yoda, Senior Scientist at the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, has developed a new synchrotron radiation technique capable of measuring atomic, molecular, and nanostructure motion in a... Read more →

LD Carbon, a producer of recovered carbon black, closed a $28-million Series C funding round led by Toyota’s growth fund, Woven Capital, with participation by Meritz Securities, Investwith, Industrial Bank of Korea, Hyundai Motor Group ZER01NE, Elohim Partners and New Main Capital. LD Carbon will use the investment to scale... Read more →

Neste, Borealis and Covestro have signed a project agreement to enable the recycling of discarded tires into high-quality plastics for automotive applications. The collaboration aims at driving circularity in plastics value chains and the automotive industry. When no longer fit for use, tires are liquefied by means of chemical recycling... Read more →

bp has signed an eight-year offtake agreement with Circtec, a UK-based technology company that develops and operates innovative pyrolysis chemical process technology and that converts hard-to-recycle waste tires into HUPA—Circtec’s proprietary renewable drop-in marine fuel, and circular naphtha petrochemical feedstock. = Under the agreement bp is committed to purchasing up... Read more →

Michelin is proposing three tire ranges for the new Porsche Macan EV. The advent of the electric car caused disruption in the world of tires. To satisfy the ambitious design brief of the new electric Porsche Macan, Michelin drew on its know-how and in-depth knowledge of electric vehicles. This is... Read more →

Apollo Tyres is partnering with India’s NATRAX, a provider of testing and validation services, to establish the first of its kind test track in India, specifically designed to validate tires for Electric Vehicles (EVs) and low-rolling-resistance tires. This collaboration aims to provide a dedicated testing facility for EV manufacturers, enabling... Read more →

Pyrolysis oil derived from discarded tires was processed into high-quality raw material for chemicals and plastics at Neste’s refinery in Porvoo, Finland. In its efforts to advance chemical recycling, Neste has successfully conducted its first processing trial run with a new challenging raw material, liquefied discarded tires. In the processing... Read more →

Continental has acquired the mold manufacturing specialist EMT s.r.o., based in Puchov, Slovakia. All shares of Continental’s long-standing supplier were transferred to Continental effective 2 April 2024. The tire manufacturer had entered into a respective agreement with EMT’s shareholders, Dynamic Design (Romania) being the majority shareholder. All 107 employees, who... Read more →

Sumitomo Rubber has developed a new simulation technique called Tire Aerodynamic Simulation,which is used in the process of tire development. In order to reduce the electricity consumption of electric vehicles (EVs), it is important to minimize tire rolling resistance as well as air resistance around the tire. Sumitomo is pursuing... Read more →

Made from a mixture of natural and synthetic rubber and plastic polymers, including other chemical components, tires represent a significant source of non-exhaust emissions. Tire abrasion is produced when there is friction with the road surface, for example when vehicles turn, accelerate or brake. Small particles break off from tires... Read more →

Plastic microparticles released into the environment from common road tires should be treated as a “high concern” pollutant, that may exceed chronic safety limits in some heavily contaminated environments, new research has shown. A team of researchers from the University of Plymouth and the University of Exeter in the UK... Read more →

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and Gatik, a leader in autonomous middle-mile B2B logistics, announced the expansion of the industry’s first, successful integration of tire intelligence technology into an autonomous driving system. Gatik's autonomous fleet, consisting of Class 3–7 box trucks, has made significant strides in enhancing the safety,... Read more →

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and ZF announced successful integration of tire intelligence technologies with vehicle motion control software. The collaboration delivers Goodyear SightLine, a suite of tire intelligence technologies, into the ZF cubiX ecosystem, a scalable vehicle motion control software that coordinates all dimensions of vehicle dynamics. This... Read more →

At CES 2024, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company unveiled the latest tire in the ElectricDrive family: The Goodyear ElectricDrive 2, an all-season electric vehicle (EV) tire enhanced with sustainable materials, improved rolling resistance and long- lasting tread life to maximize drivers’ EV performance. The new ElectricDrive 2 contains at... Read more →

Steel wire company Bekaert has delivered the first batches of third-party certified recycled steel to Bridgestone Corporation. Bekaert said that the successful pilot is the first step toward setting a new industry standard for recycled content in tire reinforcement, and to making certified tire reinforcement with high recycled content available... Read more →

Bridgestone Corporation has been named by the FIA at the World Motor Sport Council in Baku as sole future tire supplier for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship starting in the 2026-2027 season. Bridgestone’s selection by the FIA as the sole tire supplier for Formula E, covering seasons 2026-2027... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation have developed a new snow chain-integrated tire technology to make it easier to stay safe in winter driving conditions. Snow chain-integrated tire technology uses shape memory alloy modules that are located inside the wheel and tire. These modules protrude to act as a ‘snow... Read more →

Continental has put its new driving simulator for tires into operation. It will be used from now on for new and further tire developments, especially in the original equipment business. An intensive test phase of around twelve months preceded the operational phase. Virtual tire tests will save raw materials and... Read more →

Synthos, a global producer of synthetic rubber, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Kumho Tire, a South Korean tire manufacturer, for the joint development of sustainable tire raw materials. Under the MOU, the two companies will conduct a joint research and development project for Neodymium-Butadiene rubber (Nd-BR) using Bio-Butadiene... Read more →

Yokohama Tire has introduced its first ultra high-performance all-season tire specifically designed for EVs: the ADVAN Sport EV A/S. The Sport EV, which will be offered in 10 sizes ranging from 18 to 20 inches, officially goes on sale 1 January 2024 in the United States, according to Andrew Briggs,... Read more →

Following a joint call to action around recovered carbon black (rCB) at the 2021 Smithers rCB conference, Bridgestone Corporation and Michelin Group have published a joint technical white paper to share the results of their work with stakeholders in the rCB community to develop a proposed global standard to increase... Read more →

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and Visolis, a sustainable technology company, will collaborate to produce isoprene through the upcycling of biobased materials. This collaboration is supported by a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant awarded to Visolis earlier this year. Isoprene, an important precursor for some types of synthetic... Read more →

New data from UK-based fleet management company epyx’ 1link Service Network platform shows that tires fitted to electric vehicles (EVs) are lasting, on average, 6,350 fewer miles than those fitted to gasoline or diesel cars. The first tire change for electric cars is taking place at an average of 17,985... Read more →

Continental recently added recovered carbon black (rCB) to its newly produced Super Elastic solid tires at its tire plant in Korbach, Germany, thus reducing the use of fossil raw materials and CO2 emissions. Solid tires such as Continental’s SC20+ already contain around 60% renewable and recycled materials due to their... Read more →

At IAA Mobility in Munich, Germany, Continental unveiled its new tire concept Conti CityPlus. This tire technology increases the total energy efficiency of a tire by up to 10%. The results are lower CO2 emissions from passenger cars with combustion engines and longer driving ranges for electric vehicles. Conti CityPlus... Read more →

In November 2022, LanzaTech and Sumitomo Riko Company entered into a joint-development agreement to reuse rubber, resin and urethane waste for the production of a key chemical intermediate, isoprene. (Earlier post.) Sumitomo Rubber along with Sumitomo Electric will be taking part in this joint development. The three companies will join... Read more →