KUALA LUMPUR: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has unveiled a demonstration tyre that is made from 90% sustainable materials.
This demonstration tyre has passed all applicable regulatory testing as well as Goodyear’s internal testing.
The demonstration tyre also tested to have lower rolling resistance when compared to the reference tyre, made with traditional materials.
Lower rolling resistance means this demonstration tyre has the potential to offer better fuel savings and carbon footprint reduction.
In addition, after announcing the capability to demonstrate a 70% sustainable-material tyre in January last year, Goodyear, working with its supply base, plans to sell a tyre with up to 70% sustainable-material content this year.
Goodyear senior vice-president and chief technolgy officer Chris Helsel said the American tyre maker would continue to make progress toward its goal of introducing the first 100% sustainable-material tyre 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 utilised our team’s tenacity to not only demonstrate our capabilities to produce a 90% sustainable-material tyre, but to also produce a tyre with up to 70% sustainable-material content this year,” said Helsel.
The 90% Sustainable-material Demonstration Tyre - 17 Ingredients Across 12 Different Tyre Components
This 90% sustainable-material demonstration tyre includes 17 featured ingredients across 12 different components, including:
> Carbon black, which is included in tyres for compound reinforcement and to help increase their life. Goodyear’s 90% sustainable-material demonstration tyre features four different types of carbon black that are produced from methane, carbon dioxide, plant-based oil and end-of-life tyre pyrolysis oil feedstocks. These carbon black technologies target reduced carbon emissions, circularity and the use of bio-based carbons, while still delivering on performance.
> The use of soybean oil in this demonstration tyre helps keep the tyre’s rubber compound pliable in changing temperatures. Soybean oil is a bio-based resource that helps to reduce Goodyear’s use of petroleum-based products.
> Silica is an ingredient often used in tyres to help improve grip and reduce fuel consumption. This demonstration tyre includes a high-quality silica produced from rice husk waste residue (RHA silica), a byproduct of rice processing that is often discarded and put into landfills.
> Polyester is recycled from post-consumer bottles by reverting the polyester into base chemicals and reforming them into technical grade polyester used in tyre cords.
> Resins are used to help improve and enhance tyre traction performance. In this demonstration tyre, traditional petroleum-based resins are replaced with bio-renewable pine tree resins.
> Bead wire and steel cords provide reinforcement in the structure of a radial tyre and those on the demonstration tyre are made from steel with high-recycled content, which is produced using the electric arc furnace (EAF) process. The utilisation of the EAF process allows for steel to be produced with reduced energy use and higher recycled content.
> ISCC certified mass balance polymers from bio- and bio-circular feedstock are also included in this tyre.
The shift to sustainable materials is evident in some of Goodyear’s current product lines.
Today, eight product lines, and some racing tyres, include soybean oil. In addition, Goodyear has more than doubled its use of RHA silica in its product lines since 2018.
With the introduction of a tyre with up to 70% sustainable-material content, Goodyear is demonstrating tangible commitment with in-market solutions to building a better future.
