Continental has developed a concept tyre containing around 43% physically recycled materials while achieving the highest rolling-resistance rating available on the EU tyre label. The result indicates that reducing reliance on virgin raw materials need not automatically compromise energy efficiency, although the company has disclosed only a limited set of performance information.
The ZEvRA tyre remains a development project rather than a product intended for immediate sale. According to Continental’s press release, it is intended to demonstrate what can be achieved by combining several circular-material technologies in one passenger-car tyre.
“Our concept tire shows what is technically possible today – while serving as a catalyst for the innovations of tomorrow,” said Dr Andreas Topp, Continental’s head of Platform Development and Industrialisation for passenger-car tyres.
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Recycled rubber, steel, PET and foundry sand
The recycled inputs named by Continental include steel, recycled tall oil, rubber recovered from end-of-life tyres and polyester fibres produced from recycled PET bottles. The concept also uses recovered carbon black obtained through pyrolysis and an alternative form of silica made with recycled foundry sand.
These physically recycled materials should be distinguished from the tyre’s other claimed sourcing categories. Around 13% of its materials are renewable, while a further 25% are mass-balance-certified. Mass balance is an accounting system that attributes certified feedstock to products across a shared production process; it does not mean that the corresponding proportion of a particular tyre is physically made from recycled material. Across all three distinct categories, Continental reports a combined share of more than 80%.
| Tyre or portfolio measure | Reported share | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| ZEvRA concept | Around 43% | Physically recycled materials |
| ZEvRA concept | Around 13% | Renewable materials |
| ZEvRA concept | 25% | Mass-balance-certified materials |
| ZEvRA concept | More than 80% | Combined recycled, renewable and mass-balance-certified sources |
| UltraContact NXT production tyre | Up to 65% | Combined renewable, recycled and mass-balance-certified materials |
| Continental tyre portfolio, 2025 | 28% | Purchased renewable and recycled production materials |
| Continental portfolio target, 2030 | At least 40% | Purchased renewable and recycled production materials |
Continental already uses recovered carbon black at its Korbach plant in all newly produced solid tyres, mainly for forklifts, a practice introduced in 2023. Its road-legal UltraContact NXT, also launched in 2023, provides a production benchmark, although its quoted figure combines renewable, recycled and mass-balance-certified inputs. Our background article examines in more detail how sustainable modern tyres are.
Part of a wider EU circularity project
Continental is the only tyre manufacturer among the 28 partners in ZEvRA, an EU-backed programme addressing circularity across light-duty electric-vehicle value chains. According to the European Commission’s CORDIS project record, ZEvRA runs from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2026, has a total cost and EU contribution of €11,382,948.50, and aims to develop alternatives for more than 84% of the materials used in vehicles.
What it means for tyre buyers
Lower rolling resistance can reduce the energy required to keep a vehicle moving, making the top label rating potentially relevant to fuel consumption and electric-vehicle range. But one label category cannot establish the tyre’s overall safety, comfort or useful life, and a concept demonstration is not evidence that identical materials and performance will soon reach showrooms.
Continental announced no commercial launch, size range or price. It also provided no full tyre-label values, independent test results, wet-grip rating, external-noise rating or durability data for the ZEvRA concept.