Michelin creates racing tire made from 46 percent sustainable material

Clermont-Ferrand, France – At the 2021 Movin’On Summit, Michelin is set to release a racing tire containing 46 percent sustainable materials, fitted to the GreenGT Mission H24 hydrogen powered prototype developed for endurance racing.

With its totally new innovation engineered for motorsports, Michelin has found what many observers thought was impossible: a way to make a tire with high sustainable content that still delivers superior on-track performance.

This very high percentage was achieved by increasing the tire’s natural rubber content and using recycled carbon black recovered from end-of-life tires.

Other bio-sourced or recycled sustainable materials used in the tire include such everyday items as orange and lemon rind, sunflower oil, pine resin and recycled steel from aluminum cans.

As a real world technological laboratory, motorsports enable Michelin to develop and test new high tech solutions in extreme usage conditions. With this innovative partnership, Michelin is showcasing its ability to incorporate an ever higher proportion of sustainable materials into its products without compromising on their performance.

This year, Michelin announced its commitment to using 100 percent sustainable materials in all its tires by 2050. This commitment will reach an initial milestone in 2030, with a group-wide target of having 40 percent sustainable materials in its tires.

Alongside its commitment to integrating sustainable materials into its tires, Michelin also uses eco-design processes to attenuate its tires’ environmental impact at every stage in their life cycle, from raw materials sourcing and production to road use and recycling.