Goodyear is paving the road to sustainability with their concept of new, eco-friendly tires.
According to Recycling Today, Goodyear revealed a prototype tire made of 90% sustainable material earlier this year. This demonstration follows their announcement of a 70% sustainable tire last year. Though the new tire looks exactly the same, the materials are much more environmentally safe. Goodyear boasts that the new tire features 17 eco-friendly elements from 12 components. See the list from Recycling Today below:
- four different types of carbon black that are produced from methane, carbon dioxide, plant-based oil and end-of-life tire pyrolysis oil feedstocks;
- soybean oil that helps keep the tire’s rubber compound pliable in changing temperatures and reduces Goodyear’s use of petroleum-based products;
- silica produced from rice husk waste residue (RHA silica), a byproduct of rice processing that is often sent to landfills that can be used in tires to help improve grip and reduce fuel consumption;
- polyester that was chemically recycled from postconsumer bottles by reverting the polyester into base chemicals and reforming them into technical grade polyester used in tire cords;
- bio-renewable pine tree resins to help improve and enhance tire traction performance;
- bead wire and steel cord from steel with high-recycled content, which provide reinforcement in the structure of a radial tire and are produced using the electric arc furnace (EAF) process;
- and ISCC-certified mass balance polymers from bio- and bio-circular feedstock.
In addition to the tires being made from more environmentally safe ingredients, the tire’s performance can help reduce the carbon footprint as well. When Goodyear compared the new tire to a traditional one, they found the new tire had a lower rolling resistance — helping drivers save fuel. Despite the recent advancements with their eco-friendly tire, Goodyear doesn’t expect them to be available to the public for a while.
“We continue to make progress toward our goal of introducing the first 100-percent-sustainable-material tire in the industry by 2030. The past year was a pivotal one toward achieving this goal. We researched new technologies, identified opportunities for further collaboration and utilized our team’s tenacity to not only demonstrate our capabilities to produce a 90 percent sustainable-material tire, but to also produce a tire with up to 70 percent sustainable-material content this year. Our team continues to showcase its innovation and commitment to building a better future,” said Chris Helsel, Goodyear’s Senior Vice President of Global Operations and Chief Technology Officer.
See Goodyear’s demonstration of the 70% sustainable tire below:
