Michelin presents sustainable race tyre
Almost half the materials going into the Michelin 46 tyre are sustainable, thanks to the use of carbon black from ELT tyres, steel from recycled cans and, of course, natural rubber (Photo: Michelin)
On-track competitiveness may not seem reconcilable with sustainability, but Michelin begs to differ. It presented its case to this end at the 2021 Movin’On Summit.
Displayed during the event fitted to the GreenGT Mission H24 hydrogen-powered prototype endurance racing car, the Michelin ‘46’ tyre contains – as its name gives away – 46 per cent sustainable materials. Michelin says it was able to achieve this “very high percentage” by increasing the tyre’s natural rubber content and using recycled carbon black recovered from end-of-life tyres. Other bio-sourced or recycled sustainable materials used in the tyre include such everyday items as orange and lemon rind, sunflower oil, pine resin and recycled steel from cans.
Michelin states that with this “totally new innovation engineered for motorsports” it has found what many observers thought was impossible – a way to make a tyre with high sustainable content that still delivers “superior on-track performance.”
Commenting on the Michelin 46 tyre, company chief executive officer Florent Menegaux says that it and other innovative solutions presented at this year’s global sustainable mobility summit “offer tangible, real-world proof of our determination to make mobility increasingly sustainable.”
Michelin recently announced its commitment to using 100 per cent sustainable materials in all its tyres by 2050. This commitment will reach an initial milestone in 2030, with a Group-wide target of having 40 per cent sustainable materials in its tyres. Alongside a commitment to integrating sustainable materials into tyres, Michelin also uses eco-design processes to attenuate its tyres’ environmental impact at every stage in their lifecycle, from raw materials sourcing and production to road use and recycling.
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