By ATN Editorial Team
Summary: The Continental concept tyre built for the EU-funded ZEvRA project contains around 43 percent recycled material and, according to Continental, still achieves the highest rating on the EU rolling resistance label.
Key engineering takeaway: Recycled content in the Continental concept tyre includes recovered carbon black extracted from end-of-life tyres by pyrolysis, foundry residue sand reprocessed into an alternative silica variant, recycled tall oil, steel, rubber reclaimed from end-of-life tyres and polyester fibres made from recycled PET bottles. A further 13 percent of the tyre is renewable raw material and 25 percent is mass-balance-certified, taking the total non-virgin share above 80 percent.
Why it matters: Carbon black and silica are the reinforcing fillers that set rolling resistance, wet grip and wear, so substituting them is the hard part of tyre circularity rather than a cosmetic change. The Continental concept tyre is a reference point for how far recyclate can be pushed in a safety-critical component before the label rating moves, and Continental is the only tyre manufacturer among the project’s 28 partners.
- EU-funded ZEvRA project highlights potential of circular value chains for electric cars
- ZEvRA stands for “Zero Emission Electric Vehicles Enabled by Harmonized Circularity”
- Continental only tire manufacturer among project’s 28 partners
As part of the EU-funded ZEvRA project, Continental has developed a concept tire made from around 43 percent recycled materials. The concept tire highlights the potential of innovative material approaches. It also demonstrates the need for a reliable framework when adopting recycling technologies on an industrial scale.
Circular materials can help save resources and energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They are key to making mobility more sustainable. We have extensive experience in developing high-performance materials from renewable and recycled sources. Our concept tire shows what is technically possible today – while serving as a catalyst for the innovations of tomorrow.
Dr. Andreas Topp, head of Platform Development and Industrialization for passenger-car tires at Continental
The project name ZEvRA stands for “Zero Emission Electric Vehicles Enabled by Harmonized Circularity.” The two-year EU project that will conclude in 2026 is aimed at optimizing the circular economy of electric vehicles along the entire value chain. Continental is the only tire manufacturer in the consortium.
Tires consist of numerous high-performance raw materials which are precisely balanced to ensure safety, efficiency and longevity. These complex technical requirements make circularity particularly challenging. Incorporating a high percentage of recycled materials into a safety-critical product while still meeting high performance standards therefore constitutes a significant step forward. The concept tire demonstrates the compatibility of sustainability and performance, achieving the highest rating for the EU rolling resistance label.
What Goes Into The Continental Concept Tyre
The ZEvRA concept tire consists of around 43 percent recycled materials, including recycled tall oil, steel, rubber from end-of-life tires and polyester fibers made from recycled PET bottles. Continental also leverages technologies such as pyrolysis, which involves extracting materials like recovered carbon black (rCB) from end-of-life tires so they can be repurposed for another use. Since 2023, recovered carbon black has been employed at the Korbach site in all newly produced solid rubber tires. The tires are fitted primarily on forklift trucks. In addition, sand – which forms as a residue in foundries, for example (rSand) – is used in a recycling process to manufacture an alternative silica variant. Recycling keeps materials in circulation and replaces the need for primary raw materials.
The new concept tire highlights the potential of highly circular tire production. The insights gained from this will form the basis for further development of related materials and technologies at Continental, with a particular focus on industrial availability and processing of suitable recycling materials as well as scaling of manufacturing processes. The aim is to further increase the share of recycled materials used in future tire generations.
Recycled Materials Need European Definitions And Standards
Recovered carbon black is one example of a recycling solution that is already in effective use today. At the same time, there are many processes still in industrialization. “The ZEvRA project shows that technological progress can only achieve its full impact when reliable, aligned frameworks provide planning certainty and support the market ramp-up of new processes,” Topp explains. This requires standard European-wide definitions for recycled materials, as well as clearly defined criteria stipulating when processed substances are classified as recycled raw materials. Technological openness and ongoing development of recycling technologies and associated infrastructures are just as important if high-quality recycled raw materials are to be made available in sufficient quantities. Resilient supply chains and internationally coordinated procedures for material flow allocation are also crucial for the widespread use of recycled materials.
The next step is to establish innovative recycling technologies on an industrial scale and set up closed material flows. This is essential to accelerate the transformation to a resource- and climate-friendly circular economy. A standardized approach to calculation and reporting should be developed through close dialogue between policymakers and stakeholders. If implemented through regulation, it must be simple, transparent and easy for consumers to understand in order to promote genuine progress rather than create unnecessary bureaucracy.
Jorge Almeida, head of Sustainability for Continental’s Tires group sector
In addition to recycled materials, renewable raw materials also play an important role. The share of renewable raw materials in the concept tire is around 13 percent. A further 25 percent consists of mass-balance-certified materials. Together with the roughly 43 percent share of recycled materials, more than 80 percent of the materials used in the ZEvRA concept tire come from recycled, renewable or mass-balance-certified sources.
Recycled And Renewable Share Across The Tyre Portfolio
Continental is continually increasing the share of recycled and renewable materials. Since 2022, polyester casings made from recycled PET bottles have been used in selected passenger-car tires. With the UltraContact NXT, launched in 2023, the company introduced a production tire with up to 65 percent renewable, recycled and mass-balance-certified materials. In 2025, the share of purchased renewable and recycled production materials in Continental’s tire portfolio stood at 28 percent. This is set to rise to at least 40 percent by 2030.
Further Reading
- Brembo Develops Brake Calipers Made From Recycled Aluminium
- Polestar Reaches 50% Recycled Cobalt In EV Batteries
- ReDriveS Project Develops Recycling Concept For Electric Axle Drives
- Battery Passport Service From DENSO Targets EU 2027 Mandate
For more materials news, click here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is recovered carbon black?
Recovered carbon black, abbreviated to rCB, is carbon black reclaimed from end-of-life tyres by pyrolysis, a process that heats the rubber in the absence of oxygen so it breaks down into oil, gas and a solid carbon residue. The recovered solid is cleaned and milled, then used as a partial substitute for virgin carbon black in new rubber compounds.
What is rSand and why does it matter in a tyre?
rSand is sand recovered as a residue from industrial processes such as metal casting. Continental puts it through a recycling process to make an alternative silica variant. Silica is the filler that largely governs the balance between wet grip and rolling resistance in a modern passenger-car tyre, so a recycled route to it addresses one of the highest-volume virgin inputs in the compound.
What does the EU rolling resistance label measure?
The EU tyre label grades rolling resistance from A to E, based on the energy lost as the tyre deforms under load. A higher grade means less energy is lost, which translates directly into lower fuel consumption or greater electric range. Continental says the ZEvRA concept tyre achieves the highest rating on this scale.
What is mass-balance certification?
Mass balance is a chain-of-custody method in which recycled or renewable feedstock is mixed with conventional feedstock in a shared production process, and an equivalent quantity of output is then attributed to the sustainable input. It allows credit to be claimed at plant scale where physical segregation of the material streams is not practical.
What is the ZEvRA project?
ZEvRA stands for Zero Emission Electric Vehicles Enabled by Harmonized Circularity. It is a two-year EU-funded project concluding in 2026 that aims to improve the circular economy of electric vehicles across the whole value chain. It has 28 partners, and Continental is the only tyre manufacturer among them.
