It’s off to the races to see which tyre company can manufacture good and sustainable tyres for the general market. These rubber rings are notorious for being bad for the environment due to their compound being mostly made up of non-recyclable rubber. Well, Goodyear may have found a solution. Back in January 2022, Goodyear revealed a new tyre made from 70% sustainable material. Goodyear, working with its supply base, plans to sell this new 70% ready-for-market tyre in 2023. 

Keeping up with its R&D, Goodyear has also recently unveiled a new demonstration tyre consisting of 90% sustainable materials, a huge leap for sustainable tyre technology. This demonstration tyre has passed all applicable safety testing as well as Goodyear’s own internal testing. This demonstration tyre was also tested to have lower rolling resistance when compared to a traditional tyre. Of course, a lower rolling resistance translates to better fuel savings and an overall carbon footprint reduction.

Bringing the aforementioned 90% sustainable-material tyre to the masses is still a work in progress, as it would require further collaboration with Goodyear’s extensive supply base, in order 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% 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 utilized our team’s tenacity to not only demonstrate our capabilities to produce a 90% sustainable-material tyre, but to also produce a tire with up to 70% sustainable-material content this year. Our team continues to showcase its innovation and commitment to building a better future.”

90% Sustainable-material Demonstration Tyre – 17 Herbs & Spices Across 12 Different Tyres Components 

So what’s the secret blend of herbs and spices in Goodyear’s new 90% sustainable-material demonstration tyre? Well, it includes 17 featured ingredients across 12 different components. These include:

More sustainable variant of Carbon black

This is a compound that reinforces tyres to help increase their life. Goodyear’s demonstration tyre features four different types of carbon black that are produced from methane, carbon dioxide, plant-based oil and end-of-life tire pyrolysis oil feedstocks. A reduction on overall carbon footprint, without compromising on quality.

The use of soybean oil

This keeps the rubber compound pliable in changing temperatures. Soybean oil is a bio-based resource that helps to reduce Goodyear’s use of petroleum-based products.

High-quality Silica

Silica helps improve grip and reduce fuel consumption, produced from rice husk waste residue (RHA silica).

Recycled Polyester

These are reformed into technical-grade polyester used in tyre cords.

Resins

Help to improve tyre traction performance. In this demonstration tyre, traditional petroleum-based resins are replaced with bio-renewable pine tree resins.

Bead wire and steel cords

Reinforcement pieces in the structure of a radial tyre. This demonstration tyre uses bead wire and steel cord 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, due to the lower greenhouse gas emissions in comparison with steel produced using a blast furnace.

Changes for the future

The shift to sustainable materials is evident in some of Goodyear’s current product lines. Today, eight unique product lines, along with some racing tyres, include soybean oil in their production. 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 a tangible commitment to building a better future.

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