Continental UltraContact NXT, the first tyre on the market with 65% recycled materials

In recent years we have been witnessing how our new vehicles use more environmentally friendly materials, especially in their interiors, such as synthetic leathers, recycled plastics or fibres created from recycled materials used to make new upholstery. This trend will grow in favour of greater sustainability, to the point that it now also reaches tyres.

Tyres, along with engine fluids, are the components replaced most frequently on our vehicles, so it makes sense that, given the millions of tyres fitted new every day, ways are being sought to use recycled materials in them, thereby achieving a lower environmental impact. Continental has been studying this for some time and now that idea becomes a reality with the new UltraContact NXT tyres.

With the new UltraContact NXT tyre, the brand has used 28% certified sustainable materials under ISCC PLUS. These materials are synthetic rubber, which provides performance to the tyre because its properties can be specifically designed according to its intended use, and carbon black, a component used in rubber compounds to optimise the durability, stability and strength of the tyres themselves.

But that is not all: Continental UltraContact NXT tyres also incorporate up to 32% recycled materials. In this way, they also include resins based on waste materials from the paper and wood industries, which make it possible to create very flexible compounds that improve grip; they also contain silica from rice husk ash, which can improve grip, rolling resistance and the service life of the tyre; to which must be added recycled steel and the adoption of ContiRe.Tex technology, which creates polyester fibres to reinforce the tyre carcass from plastic bottles.

All of this has earned Continental the right to display the CRM logo on its tyre sidewalls, which indicates that they contain recycled materials, and has made it the first manufacturer to launch a tyre that can contain up to 65% recycled materials depending on its size. By the way, the new UltraContact NXT will gradually replace the current UltraContact across its 19 sizes, starting to be available in Spain from next July, suitable for both combustion and electric vehicles.