In a world first, Michelin unveils two tyres approved for road use, containing 45% and 58% of sustainable materials respectively

In a world first, Michelin is presenting two tyres – one for use on cars and the other for buses – containing 45% and 58% of sustainable materials respectively. Approved for road use, these tyres have performance levels exactly in line with Michelin’s conventional tyres.

Michelin has taken a new step towards the pre-production and marketing – within two to three years – of new ranges that will include high levels of sustainable materials. The Group is thus well set to meet its commitment to global production with 100% bio-sourced, renewable or recycled materials by 2050, with an interim target of 40% for 2030.

Michelin owes this progress to the increased use of natural rubber, together with the inclusion of recycled carbon black, oils such as sunflower oil and bio-sourced resins, silica from rice husks and even recycled steel in its tyres.

The inclusion of sustainable materials in the development of its tyres is a real undertaking of the Group, in which no compromise is made in terms of performance, and care is taken not to impact the environment in each of the steps in the life cycle – design, manufacture, transport, use and recycling. 

To stick to its road map, Michelin can rely on its expertise in the field of high-tech materials, along with the contribution of every one of the 6,000 engineers, researchers, chemists and developers in its R&D department. It is noteworthy that, in 2021, Michelin held 3,678 active patents for these materials alone.

Aware that the pace and nature of innovations in the field of sustainable materials require new skills, the Group has engaged in a program of targeted partnerships, enabling it to accelerate the development of breakthrough technologies, particularly in the fields of transformation and recycling. Examples of this include Pyrowave (r-styrene), Carbios (r-PET), Enviro (rCB), IFPEN/Axens with the participation of the ADEME (French agency for ecological transition) (bio-butadiene), the Empreinte¹ project undertaken with the ADEME, and the setting up of the circular economy projects BlackCycle and Whitecycle, which Michelin is running with numerous European partners and the backing of the EU, to transform tyres at end of life into very high-quality raw materials that can be incorporated into new tyres.

^{[1] The Empreinte project is financed by the government as part of the Program for future investments, now included in France 2030 and operated by the ADEME.}