In the race towards a greener tyre, Goodyear has taken a step ahead of its competitors with the anticipated launch of a tyre made from 70 per cent sustainable materials in 2023
However, the tyre giant claims to have a 90 per cent sustainable demonstration tyre that it showed to the press recently. This demonstration tyre has passed all applicable regulatory testing as well as Goodyear’s internal testing.
This 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 2022, Goodyear, working with its supply base, plans to sell a tyre with up to 70% sustainable-material content in 2023.
Bringing a 90% sustainable-material tyre to market will require further collaboration with the company’s supply base to identify the scale necessary for these innovative materials to produce that specific tyre at high volumes.
“We continue to make progress toward our goal of introducing the first 100 per cent sustainable-material tyre in the industry by 2030,” said Chris Helsel, Senior Vice President, Global Operations and Chief Technology Officer. “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. Our team continues to showcase its innovation and commitment to building a better future.”
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, has traditionally been made by burning various types of petroleum products. Goodyear’s 90 per cent 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. While nearly 100% of soy protein is used in food/animal feed applications, a significant surplus of oil is left over and available for use in industrial applications.
- 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 by-product 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. This demonstration tyre uses bead wire and steel cord from steel with high-recycledcontent, 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. The EAF process has the potential for lower greenhouse gas emissions in comparison with steel produced using a blast furnace.
- 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 tire with up to 70% sustainable-material content, Goodyear is demonstrating tangible commitment with in-market solutions to building a better future.
