Toyo Tires presents 90% sustainable materials tyre

At this month’s Tokyo Auto salon, Toyo Tires presented a concept tyre that utilises 90 per cent sustainable materials. Prior to this Sustainable Concept Tyre, the highest ever usage rate of sustainable materials in a Toyo tyre was 50 per cent, as seen in the Open Country MT/R tyres that have seen action in the 2024 Dakar Rally. The tyre maker thus considers the new concept, which “dramatically surpasses this share,” a “step forward towards a more viable future mobility.”

The Sustainable Concept Tyre uses renewable materials such as biomass-derived butadiene rubber, biomass-derived styrene-butadiene rubber, rice husk ash silica, plant-derived oil, and bio-derived polyester fibre (approximately 60 per cent of the total), and recycled materials. Toyo employs CO2-derived butadiene rubber that it jointly developed with Toyama University in Japan, as well as recycled carbon black, recycled bead wire, and recycled steel cord (approximately 30 per cent of the total).

For its production tyres, Toyo Tires’ goal is to achieve a sustainable raw materials usage rate of 40 per cent in 2030 and 100 per cent in 2050. “This concept tyre is a development product that serves as a stepping stone to that goal,” states the manufacturer.

The concept tyre achieves the top grade for rolling resistance on the Japanese tyre label.