# Technology & Innovation

ContiRe.Tex technology

Introducing ContiRe.Tex, sustainable material from up-cycled PET bottles

$EcoContact 6 Q ContiRe.Tex$

Using recycled materials in the design, development and production of premium tires

With its ContiRe.Tex technology, which aims to make the manufacturing, use, and recyclability of its tires more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly, Continental just got one step closer to the goal of tires made from 100% recycled or sustainable materials.

“Tex” is an abbreviation for textiles, in this case, to denote a high-quality polyester yarn produced from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, which could’ve otherwise ended up in garbage incinerators, oceans, or landfills.

The yarn is mechanically produced without any intermediate chemical steps. The process entails manually separating bottles from the caps, followed by mechanically cleaning, shredding, and processing the plastic into granulate, which is finally spun into the polyester yarn used to make our sustainable tires.

We ensure that the PET bottles are gathered exclusively from regions without a closed recycling loop. A set of standard passenger car tires utilizes material from 40 recycled PET bottles (ContiRe.Tex utilizes between 9 to 15 PET bottles per tire, depending on the tire size).

Today’s plastic waste is tomorrow’s production material

ContiRe.Tex completely replaces conventional polyester normally used in the construction of tire carcasses and is as durable as conventionally-made tires. The textile cords embedded in the tires are designed to absorb the forces of internal pressure and remain dimensionally stable even under heavy loads and at high temperatures.

ContiRe.Tex has successfully proven its performance with the Continental CrossContact Extreme E racing tire under extreme conditions in the second season of Extreme E Racing. The season kicked off in February 2022, and will continue throughout the year. Moreover, the support vehicles for this year’s Tour de France will, for the first time, be equipped with tires including ContiRe.Tex technology. ContiRe.Tex tires can be distinguished from tires without ContiRe.Tex through a special logo printed on the sidewall that states: “Contains Recycled Material.”

Our sustainability commitment guides our efforts

Continental consumes 55% less water and 17% less energy than the industry average of per metric ton of tires produced
We plan to further reduce this by another 20% by 2030
Since the end of 2020, grid electricity purchased for our tire production sites worldwide is carbon-neutral thanks to the procurement of energy attribute certificates
Continental is a member of the RE 100 initiative that fosters renewable energy
Tire production by Continental will be carbon neutral by 2040
We aim to be completely climate-neutral along our entire value chain by 2050