Continental says that retread tires play a role in achieving the company’s sustainability targets.

When tire tread depth has worn and is no longer adequate for safe transportation, retreading can be performed reusing quality tire casings. Retreads offer excellent fleet mobility solutions that can lead to both cost savings and environmental benefits. With good quality tires capable of being retreaded several times, the total cost of the tire asset over the long run is a benefit for the fleet, says Continental.

“Retread is a key part of Continental’s strategy in the U.S. market as we expand our retread portfolio, and the ContiLifeCycle retread network continues to serve our fleets. Our commitment to retreading is aligned with our company’s Vision 2030 of sustainability improvements,” said Shaun Uys, head of U.S. market replacement truck tire and key accounts management fleets, Continental Tire.

The ContiLifeCycle approach offers a three-stage, cradle-to-grave approach which includes new tires, casing reuse, and retreading. The third step in the ContiLifeCycle involves retreading truck and bus tires. This premium, quality solution is cost-effective, eco-friendly, and prolongs the life of Continental truck and bus tires. The retreaded tire provides high operational efficiency and lowest overall driving cost. In fact, Continental Truck tires are engineered for retreading, with several characteristics that will improve carcass lifetime in order to receive multiple retreads before end of life.

Conti Urban concept tire designed for great sustainability in urban transport

Continental says its sustainable concept tire – Conti Urban, which made its world premiere at the IAA Transportation 2022 – is designed for delivery vehicles in urban environments and electrified city buses. The tread of the Conti Urban, the part of the tire that is in contact with the road, contains 68 percent renewable materials, including rapeseed oil, silica obtained from the ash of rice husks and responsibly sourced natural rubber. Like the majority of Continental’s commercial vehicle tires, the Conti Urban will be retreadable.

Each retreaded tire helps to protect the environment. Reusing the casing saves energy and raw materials. Multiple use of the casing also reduces the number of old tires in circulation. Continental’s cradle-to-grave approach cares for the Earth and operating costs.

Retreading contributes to sustainability efforts

Retreading contributes to the productive life of a tire, says Continental. By utilizing the original or a used quality casing, a retread can eliminate millions of scrap tires being sent to landfills each year. Additionally, it takes much less energy to produce a retread compared to the production of a new tire. According to the Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau (TRIB), it takes approximately 22 gallons of oil to manufacture a new medium truck tire, but it takes only seven gallons for a retread. Most of the oil is found in the casing, which is reused in the retreading process. As a result, it takes approximately 7 gallons of oil to produce a retread. This saves hundreds of millions of gallons of oil. And because less energy is used to produce a retread tire, carbon emissions and greenhouse gas is reduced from the air, Continental says.

According to the data collected by the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association, more than 300 million tires are scrapped annually in the U.S. and compared to new tires, retreaded tires:

• Use 15 gallons less oil and 90 pounds less total material per tire
• Save the U.S. and Canada about 215 million gallons of oil per year
• Reduce CO2 emissions by 24 percent
• Reduce water consumption by 19 percent
• Reduce air pollution by 21 percent, and
• Remove 1.4 billion pounds per year from the waste stream.

Retread tires contain up to 75% post-consumer recycled material, according to the U.S. EPA. Almost 40 pounds of raw material is saved in every retreaded tire, including rubber, steel, and carbon black.

Retreading conserves oil. Retreading truck tires in the U.S. reduces carbon emissions by 396,000 tons annually. The retreading process generates 70 percent less emissions than production of a new tire.

For more information, visit www.continental-truck.com.