Continental AG reveals Ultracontact NXT, its most ecofriendly tire to date

• The new tire is made from 65% sustainable materials

• The proportion of recycled materials is 5%.

• The new tire will hit the market this summer in Europe.

It’s not just carmakers who have to adapt to the new environmental reality. Tire manufacturers are also involved in this race for a more eco-responsible future.

And since tires are just as important as the vehicle under which they are installed, we can expect more announcements like the one just made by German manufacturer Continental AG. Indeed, Continental has just introduced its most environmentally friendly tire to date, the UltraContact NXT.

The new tire is made from 65% sustainable materials, the highest proportion of any tire model in production. Among these renewable and recycled materials, Continental claims that plastic bottles and silicate made from rice ash were used in the new tire’s manufacturing process.

Renewable materials account for 32%. The proportion of recycled materials is 5%. In addition, Continental has sourced up to 28% of ISCC PLUS-certified materials according to the mass balance approach, from biological, bio-circular and/or circular raw materials.

Continental’s goal is to offer tires made from more than 40% recycled and renewable materials by 2030. The current proportion (of recycled materials) varies between 15% and 20%. The further target for 2050 is a range of tires made entirely from green materials.

The new “partially recycled” tire will appear in European tire dealers this summer, with 19 sizes to gradually replace the UltraContact tire. Continental also believes that the company is ready to supply tires for new vehicles. In fact, the Kia Niro, Tesla Model 3 and Audi Q4 e-tron are on the list of models compatible with this new tire model.